Murder in the Old Republic
by MITOR
Summary: When members of the Galactic Senate start turning up dead in mysterious circumstances, two Jedi Sentinels are sent to investigate. What they uncover takes the Old Republic to the very brink of civil war... A classic Star Wars adventure, filled with space battles, murder mystery, intrigue, lightsaber duels, a rebel fleet – and, of course, a dastardly plot to take over the galaxy...


When members of the Galactic Senate start turning up dead in mysterious circumstances, two Jedi Sentinels are sent to investigate. What they uncover takes the Old Republic to the very brink of civil war...

A classic _Star Wars_ adventure, filled with epic space battles, murder mystery, political intrigue, lightsaber duels, a rebel fleet - and, of course, a dastardly plot to seize control of the galaxy.

Set just after the Mandalorian Wars, shortly before the events of _Knights of the Old Republic_ , an original, feature-length story set in locations that will be pleasantly familiar to fans of the _Star Wars_ expanded universe.

* * *

For a more readable format complete with illustrations, please visit tagged/mitor/chrono

* * *

 **Contents**

 _PROLOGUE_

 _CHAPTER 1 Two Dead Duros_

 _CHAPTER 2 The Bloated Tach_

 _CHAPTER 3 The Reluctant Smuggler_

 _CHAPTER 4 A Dead End_

 _CHAPTER 5 The Jedi Academy_

 _CHAPTER 6 Dol Grenna_

 _CHAPTER 7 Water World_

 _CHAPTER 8 The Ranch_

 _CHAPTER 9 The Vao Trial_

 _CHAPTER 10 Senator Janus_

 _CHAPTER 11 The Endar Spire_

 _CHAPTER 12 A New Threat Emerges_

 _CHAPTER 13 The Battle of Onderon_

 _CHAPTER 14 Diplomacy, Madalorian Style_

 _CHAPTER 15 The New Order_

 _CHAPTER 16 The Plot Thickens_

 _CHAPTER 17 The Head of the Serpent_

 _CHAPTER 18 Loose Ends_

 _CHAPTER 19 A Well-Earned Rest_

* * *

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

* * *

 **MURDER IN THE OLD REPUBLIC**

Peace at last! After five long years

the Galactic Republic has seen off

the Mandalorian invaders, but at a

terrible price. An entire generation

is lost, countless young Jedi

among them.

The Galactic Senate, divided on

how best to rebuild, is riven with

rival factions. Senators are turning

up dead in the most mysterious

circumstances, and now even the

Supreme Chancellor is missing.

On the capital world of Coruscant,

General Jaso Corona, hero of the

Mandalorian Wars, arrives at the

Republic Senate with his friends,

in the vain hope of securing the

fragile peace...

* * *

 **PROLOGUE**

General Jaso Corona swept into the chamber of the Galactic Senate, an entourage of soldiers and senators swarming around him like flies. Although his hair was greying at the front, the general was a handsome man, if a little battle-scarred. He had the natural authority and bearing of a military man, and senators soon scuttled out of his way as he strode towards the Supreme Chancellor's podium.

The chamber, a large, echoing hall with giant columns of Selonian marble around the edges, supporting the public gallery, was a throwback to ancient times. Long wooden benches, said to be carved from a single wroshyr tree, formed a semi-circle around the chancellor's chair, a throne of Gallian firestone. The chamber was loosely based on the design of the old Senate Hall chamber, deliberately recalling it without copying it exactly: it was smaller, with wooden benches instead of stone, and a smaller, less ornate podium at its heart. And there was not one bit of modern technology in sight.

The chancellor himself was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Senator Janus sat on his throne, busy politicking. When he saw General Corona approaching, he stopped talking, but the general changed course at the last minute, making his way over to the nearest benches with his entourage.

"Janus is clearly pleased to see you," Senator Organa whispered, sarcastically, in the general's ear. General Corona glanced across the chamber, saw the Senator glaring back at him, and smiled.

Senator Janus was ten years younger than the general, but did not look it. "He's going to be a lot less pleased later," the general retorted, smiling.

The senator from Alderaan stared at his friend for a moment, confused, before his eyes lit up. "You're making the announcement today?" he asked.

The general smiled enigmatically, however, and said nothing. His eyes suddenly alighted on a figure in the doorway, silhouetted against the light outside the chamber. General Corona rose to his feet, a broad grin on his face.

"Jaso!" called the figure, stepping into the chamber. The general strode across the hall and embraced one of his oldest friends, Senator Kype Quinn, a tall man with long, flowing hair and boyish good looks.

"Junior," shouted the General, laughing and slapping his friend on the back. "It's been too long." His friend smiled too, though few others could have got away with addressing him like that.

The senator from Alderaan joined them, with the rest of the general's entourage. "Today's the day," Organa whispered excitedly, nudging Senator Quinn's elbow as he spoke.

"Really?" Quinn asked his friend. They had only just finished hugging each other, but Quinn at once seized the old soldier's hand and shook it. The senator appeared almost as excited as his colleague. "He won't know what hit him," he added, glancing across the chamber at Senator Janus and then at his friend, and laughing.

There came a loud cough from behind the general. Jaso Corona turned round, to find two Onderonians standing behind him: two brothers, Pavel and Kit Cascara.

"Senator Cascara," Corona said, politely enough, though as he spoke he turned his back on the brothers for a moment, facing his friends, and rolled his eyes. "And what can I do for you?" he asked, turning to face the brothers again.

One of the brothers held a scroll, a parchment, which the senators still used to conduct their affairs in the House. It appeared that the senator from Onderon wanted to talk business, but his words made no sense, and the general had twice to ask him to speak up because he could not hear the man over the din of the chamber, which was starting to fill. The senator's voice, however, kept getting quieter and quieter.

As he strained to hear the Onderonian's words, Corona felt a hand on his shoulder, none too gentle. "What is this?" he asked angrily, turning round again to see one of Senator Organa's allies with a dirty great hand on his shoulder.

All of a sudden, he heard a scroll bounce on the floor behind him, and felt a sharp pain in the nape of his neck. Instinctively he turned to face the Cascara brothers. He felt the back of his neck with the palm of his hand, glanced at his hand and gasped. There was blood on it, though not too much. The general stared Senator Cascara furiously. The senator was holding a makeshift blade, a shiv, in his hand, but the weapon went limp as soon as the general turned to face him. "Help me, Kit," he whispered to his brother, though little more than air came out of his mouth.

At that moment, Corona felt a searing pain in his back, far more intense than the first. Turning round again, he saw another of the other senators holding a bloodied blade in his hand. Senator Organa was holding a weapon too, but dropped it when Corona turned to face him.

The general felt another knife in his back, that of the other Cascara brother, and another. He reached out to his friend, Kype Quinn, who was standing nearby, watching. "Help me, Kype," he mouthed, but then, to his horror, he saw that his friend was holding a blade too. "Not you," he began to say, but as he opened his mouth to speak his friend drove the shiv deep into his body, the first blow from the front.

General Corona stared into his friend's eyes for a moment. Blood ran down the blade onto his friend's hands. Corona fell to his knees, a trickle of black blood, darker than before, oozing from his belly. The very last sight that the general saw, as he lay gasping on the floor, was that of his rival, Senator Janus, standing open-mouthed on the far side of the room, as agents from the Republic Strategic Information Service tried to drag him into the Senate Library.

At this point, other senators closed in on the hero, a small crowd, and started to stab him furiously, without mercy, and long after he was dead.

The general's friends had waited until the session was about to begin to strike. Many senators did not realise what was happening until Quinn leaped onto the chancellor's chair, hands dripping with his friend's blood, and screamed: "We saved the Republic today," at which point the rest of the senators also started to scream and streamed out of the chamber, fleeing for their lives.

Senator Quinn, Organa and the Cascara brothers pursued them onto the steps of the chambers, where they stood, holding the bloody weapons aloft.

"To the Temple", Quinn bellowed, pointing to the roof of the Jedi Temple in the distance.

* * *

 **CHAPTER 1 Two Dead Duros**

It was not until the dead of night that the two figures finally stole from the spaceport, dressed head to toe in black, heads hooded, faces veiled. They moved quickly and quietly: they made no sound, in fact, save for the small utility droid trundling behind them. They hurried along a promenade, a wide, pedestrianised walkway lit by purple and white bars of light in the balustrades, avoiding the handful of drunks in their path.

When they reached the open square in front of the spaceport, one of the figures stopped and stared at the sky. Even at night, towers loomed out of the darkness above them, silhouetted against the sky. Shafts of light ran the length of the towers, like the spines of fish. As the first figure gazed in wonder, her hood slipped, revealing her hair, and the face of a woman in her early twenties.

"First time on Taris?" her companion asked, clearly amused, as she stared at the towers. His voice was deep and rich. Glancing at the port cautiously, he threw back his own hood, feeling the gentle night breeze on his face. Lok Zeren was a foot taller than his companion, and more than twice her age, though he wore it well. He was Iridonian, but could pass for human when hooded: he had only two horns on his face, a big one at the top of his forehead, where his widow's peak would have been, were he not bald, and a small one just beneath it. The rest of his horns were on the side of his head, and so covered by a hood.

His companion still had not spoken, so taken was she with the towers. He turned to face her. Juno Celerier was neither especially plain nor particularly attractive, which, Lok thought to himself, made her perfect for the task at hand.

"First time on Taris?" he repeated.

"Hmm?" she murmured, and then, as if waking from a dream, added, "Oh. Yes."

"It's even more beautiful in the daytime," he informed her. "Well, you'll see soon enough."

"So, what's the plan?" his companion asked. At that moment, however, a large group of young men poured out of a building on the far side of the square, clearly worse for wear.

Lok pulled his hood back up. "They don't always like my kind here," he said, as if by way of explanation, before adding: "Let's go to the safe house. We can make a start tomorrow, when we're rested."

The woman also covered her head and set off after her companion. "Come on, T3," she said to the robot, even though it was already following them.

The so-called safe house turned out to be a small apartment close to the space port, in the middle of one of the towers, which meant that it had no windows. They picked up the key from the janitor, after they woke him up. Juno went on ahead with the utility droid to unlock, while Lok listened patiently to the janitor prattle on. "You probably didn't need a key, did you?" Juno asked the robot, and it chirped and whistled in reply.

As Juno wandered the corridor, glancing at the numbers on the doors, she saw an old man at the end of the corridor, apparently asleep, propped up by a door. As she approached the man, the numbers on the doors approached the number on the key in her hand. The old man was sitting outside the door of the apartment, and Juno's heart sank as she realised that she would have to step over him.

As it turned out, however, she did not have to. When they reached the door, the droid whirred loudly, as if to inform Juno that they had arrived, which woke the old man. "Ida?" he whispered hoarsely, still half asleep.

Juno sighed. "No," she replied. She was about to ask if she could enter the apartment when the old man opened his eyes, blinked frantically and rose to his feet. He was a strange-looking fellow, with beady eyes and a long nose.

"Where is she?" he asked, seeing the key in her hand, managing to make a simple question sound like an accusation. His breath reeked of what Juno assumed to be Tarisian ale.

"Sorry," she replied, "but I don't know Ida."

"Who _are_ you then?" asked the old man angrily.

Juno smiled at him and extended her hand. "I'm Juno," she said, and then, putting two and two together, she added: "We're just renting the apartment for a few days."

"Oh," replied the old man, dejected. Juno did not withdraw her hand, and eventually he shook it half-heartedly and muttered, "Gorton."

"Did you live here, Gordon?" asked Juno. "Is Ida your wife?"

"Gorton," snapped the old man, though as he spoke he collapsed into a pile on the floor. Juno was in two minds whether to stay and talk to him or open the door, when he suddenly shouted: "This is my place... Or it used to be, when I had my job."

"Sorry," Juno repeated, unsure what else to say. She heard her companion approaching from the turbolift at the other end of corridor, and wished he would speed up. "I'll tell Ida you were here if she comes back," she added hopefully.

"She's never coming back," slurred the old man dramatically, hanging his head. "She's run off with that fat Twi'lek druk..."

The man's words trailed off, however, as soon as he saw her Iridonian friend approaching. "Should've guessed," he snarled, standing back up. "Should've known it was you lot. Took my job, took my wife... and now you've took my home..."

"Us lot?" Lok asked, not understanding what was happening.

"Why don't you take my whole drukking planet?" Gorton asked. "Better yet, why don't you go back where you came from?"

"The janitor's office?" asked Lok wryly, understanding what was happening now.

"You..." the old man began, getting ready to take a swing at Lok. Juno delved into her robes, but her companion shook his head. He sidestepped the punch, which he saw coming a mile off, and the old man fell to the floor. Juno opened the apartment door and stepped inside. Lok was about to follow her when Gorton staggered to his feet and lunged at him again. Juno heard a zap and a whimper; when she turned round, she saw the utility droid sitting beside the old man, who was now lying unconscious on the floor.

"What did I tell you?" asked the Iridonian wearily, staring at the old man. "Welcome to Taris."

The robot passed through the door. "There's a good boy," Juno said, patting the droid on the head. T3-M4 clicked appreciatively.

"Why are you talking like that?" asked Lok. "It is not a pet.

"I'll fetch the janitor then, shall I?" he asked, almost tetchily, as Juno turned her back on him and followed the droid into the apartment.

After barely four hours' sleep, the Iridonian, the young woman and the droid left the apartment before dawn. Happily, there was no sign of Gorton Colu on the way to the elevator.

They boarded a shuttle to another quarter, far from the spaceport, though the journey only took a few minutes. On the ride, Lok Zeren laid out his plan.

"But I'm hoping we won't have to go to the lower levels," he concluded, once he had finished laying out the plan.

"The lower levels?" Juno asked, confused.

"Think of Taris as a vast corporation," Lok replied. "These towers go all over the planet. At the top, you have the rich and powerful: the board, if you will. The lower levels - that is where the workers live. It is a dangerous place. They have a serious gang problem down there."

"This is where the rich live?" Juno asked in astonishment, thinking back to the old man outside the safe house.

"Believe it or not," Lok replied, "yes. But the place you really do not want to go is the underworld, below the lower levels, below the towers: the old planet surface. That is where the underclass lives. We should avoid that place at all costs."

As he was speaking, the shuttle arrived at its destination. Juno nodded, and followed Lok out of the vehicle. They left the transit system and made their way to the promenade. As they left the building, a vista of grey-green sky opened up before them, mostly clear, with the faintest wisps of cloud. The sun had just risen over the tops of the towers, and the clouds' edges were tinged orange. The towers, which had loomed so large the night before, almost sinisterly so, now shimmered in the distance. In the daylight Juno could see that, although they were all different sizes, the towers were broadly the same shape: sleek curves on two sides, but flat on the other two, and rounded at the top.

"Wow," Juno exclaimed, gazing past the nearest tower, the semicircular face of which stared straight down at them, at the rows and rows of towers twinkling purple and grey as far as the eye could see.

Lok glanced at his companion. "I told you," he said. "Beautiful, is it not?"

Juno nodded. The droid had not stopped, however, and they hurried after it, making their way through the smartly dressed, early morning crowds. "I hope he knows where he's going," Juno quipped. All of a sudden, however, the droid came to an abrupt halt in front of a large door. The door was twice Juno's height, and three times as wide as it was tall. "This is where we're meeting our contact?" asked the young woman. "A cantina?"

Her Iridonian companion remained silent. He pulled his hood slightly further forward and opened the door warily, or rather a smaller door set into the large door. A wave of heat and noise almost knocked him off his feet. Reluctantly, he took a deep breath and entered the cantina.

"It's fuller than I was expecting," Juno said loudly.

"What?" shouted her companion.

"It's fuller than I expected," she repeated, shouting into his ear this time. "Why's everyone up so early?"

"Or so late," Lok suggested. "I think there's some event on," he added. Spotting an empty booth by the door, he shouted: "Wait here. I'll see if our contact's here."

Lok headed off towards one of the bars. Juno slid into the booth, shuffling down a bench, and called to the droid. T3-M4 beeped and cheeped and disappeared underneath the table.

Deeper inside the cantina there was standing room only, with people, mostly men, crowding around the various bars and one of the inner rooms in particular. "What's going on, T3?" asked Juno, though it was a rhetorical question.

All of a sudden, she became aware of a presence at her side. She turned and saw a young man, five or so years older than her, standing at the end of the booth. He was well dressed and, as it turned out, well spoken. "Can I get you a drink?" he asked.

It was clear that the man was no waiter. "Excuse me?" Juno said.

"A pretty girl shouldn't be sitting by herself in here," the young man replied, running his hands through his hair. "Not without a drink, anyway."

"I'm waiting for a friend," Juno informed him, trying not to sound too rude.

A second man joined his friend, slightly older, just as well spoken, but less polite. "Just let my friend here buy you a drink," he insisted. "There's a good girl." He then proceeded to sit down in the booth, uninvited, opposite Juno. "What's this pile of rust?" he asked, finding the robot with his feet.

T3-M4 beeped angrily. "Leave him alone," Juno shouted, but as she spoke the first man sat down on the bench beside her, pushing her physically further down it. "Here for the fight?" he asked.

"Fight? What fight?"

"'What fight?'" the young man beside her asked, scoffing. "Bendak versus Golon, of course. Only the first death match in ten years."

"Death match?" repeated Juno. "You mean they fight to the death?"

"Of course," the man beside her grinned.

"For entertainment?" Juno asked, genuinely shocked. "That's barbaric."

"That's barbaric," both men said at once, mimicking her voice and laughing.

"How's it even legal?" Juno persevered.

The men looked at each other and burst out laughing again. "It's not really the first one for ten years either," the older man retorted. "They just say that."

At that moment, the Iridonian returned with another man, evidently his contact. The two young men saw his horns, in spite of his hood and the poor lighting in the cantina, and glanced at each other.

"Beat it, ugly," snarled the man sitting next to Juno. "Find your own slummy. This one's ours."

Lok weighed up the situation. The men were drunk, but clearly Tarisian nobles, or so he thought, and therefore trouble. Already his contact was fidgeting nervously, and he did not want to scare him away.

Juno rose to her feet, but so did the young man. It was clear that he was not going to let her pass. Lok stared the man in the eye and calmly, with a wave of his hand, said: "You don't want to bother this girl. You want to watch the fight."

The older man snorted, but to his surprise his friend turned to him and said: "Yeah, let's let them go. I want to watch the fight." While he was speaking, Juno climbed over the bench behind him, and started to make for the exit.

"Are you serious?" the older man asked his friend, but already the strangers were gone. T3-M4 emerged suddenly from underneath the table, startling the young man, who seemed to regain his senses. He and his friend then started to argue.

Lok and Juno paused for breath outside the cantina, and the Iridonian shook his head. After a moment, he said: "Juno, meet Gurney Slade. Mr Slade has kindly agreed to get us into the hospital."

Slade was a young man, not much taller than Juno, with dark, tightly curled hair. He smiled and extended his hand. "Gurney's not my real name," he said. "My friends just call me that 'cos, well, you know..."

They starting walking along the promenade. Juno kept glancing over her shoulder anxiously, but no one was following them.

Slade was a chatty man, and he did not stop talking until they had reached the hospital itself, Dynamet General, a few minutes' walk from the cantina. The hospital covered three entire floors of a tower, one of the largest towers on Taris. The group entered the building by one of the rear entrances and moved quickly along the hospital's corridors. "The morgue's this way," Slade informed them quietly.

"The morgue?" Juno whispered to Lok.

"Where did you think he'd be?" Lok asked, raising an eyebrow. "Won't the staff be in yet?" he added, turning to Slade.

"It's normally alright," he replied, "this time of the day."

Eventually they came to a locked door. "This is it," Slade whispered. The utility droid went to open the door, but Slade smoothly picked the lock. "After you," he said, glancing up and down the corridor nervously. The corridor, however, was deserted.

The mortuary was vast: bigger than the cantina from which they had just come. Row upon row of refrigerated lockers lined the walls. Juno shuddered involuntarily, and not just because she was cold. In the middle of the room, on their own, stood two folding tables, side by side. There were sheets over the tables, and bodies under the sheets. The group walked to the tables, Juno with some trepidation. Lok held the corner of one of the sheets with his hand, and Slade took hold of the other sheet. "On three?" he joked.

Lok gently folded back his sheet, revealing the head and upper body of a Duro male, although Juno did not recognise him as such straight away. The Duro's skin was pale and deformed, a pallid grey rather than the usual blue-green, and his eyes, which were open, were hollow and sunken. His face was twisted, and it was clear that he had died in considerable pain.

Slade whipped the sheet off the other body like a magician revealing a trick. If anything, the body on the second table was in a worse state than the first, dry blood caking the eyes and mouth. Juno shook her head and cast his eyes to the floor.

Inspecting the corpse of the second Duro, however, Lok said, "There you are, Senator Plono."

* * *

 **CHAPTER 2 The Bloated Tach**

"What are you doing here?"

Lok Zeren was inspecting the Duro senator's body when a man in a white coat burst into the room without warning. "You shouldn't be in here," he added, staring furiously at the hooded intruders.

"Dr Wenlock," Gurney Slade stuttered, clearly taken by surprise.

The doctor was in his late fifties and had thick, bushy eyebrows and an unfeasibly wide moustache, as if to compensate for the total lack of hair on his head otherwise.

"Dr Wenlock," repeated Lok, as if he knew the stranger, though he did not, "please..."

"No," the doctor interrupted. "You shouldn't be in here. I'm calling security."

"Wait," Lok said with authority. The doctor had turned his back on the group, but stopped in his tracks and turned round and faced the Iridonian. "Dr Wenlock, I am a member of the Jedi Council."

As he spoke, Lok threw back his hood and unfastened his outer robes, revealing his lightsaber. "This is my colleague Juno Celerier," he added, "a member of my order, and our utility droid T3-M4. Please forgive this intrusion, but I did not know who to trust."

Juno followed Lok's lead, revealing her face and hair. The doctor glanced from Lok to Juno and back again. "What are you doing here?" he asked, still suspicious.

"We have been sent to investigate Senator Plono's death," replied Lok.

"Who by?" the doctor asked, but then, without waiting for an answer, he continued: "No, it doesn't matter. The Civil Authority looked into everything. You should talk to them."

"Dr Wenlock, these are Jedi knights," Slade pleaded. "I think we should help them."

The doctor made no reply other than a loud sigh.

"Did you treat the senator before he died?" the Iridonian asked, taking a step away from the bodies and towards the doctor, who nodded impatiently.

"I was part of the team that treated the senator, yes."

"Did he say anything?"

"No," Wenlock exclaimed. "I've been through all this with the authorities already," he insisted.

"What did this, doctor?" asked Juno, pointing at the hideously deformed bodies.

The doctor seemed more kindly disposed to the young woman, and his attitude softened slightly. "You're looking at the rakghoul disease," he informed her.

"Rakghoul disease?" Juno repeated.

"Yes," replied the doctor. "A deadly, degenerative disease. The inflicted lose control of their minds, their bodies, until they turn into what you see before you."

"How terrible," Juno said, still staring at the dead Duros. "Is there no cure?"

"No," Wenlock replied. "Not yet, anyway. There are drugs that may slow the disease, if caught early enough, but there is no cure."

"How long do they have?"

"From infection?" the doctor asked. "It varies from species to species and so on. Without treatment, a matter of days. The senator was exposed to a particularly virulent strain, though. He died in a matter of hours."

"What about with treatment?" Juno asked.

"Some patients live for years on the meds," Wenlock replied, "but you have to begin treatment early. And the drugs have stopped working so well of late."

"Do you know how he caught it, doctor?" Juno asked.

The doctor closed his eyes and shook his head. "'Ghoul's not airborne, is it?" asked the Iridonian.

Dr Wenlock's mood changed again in an instant. "No," he replied curtly. "It's passed from infected to infected."

"By cuts and scratches?"

"Typically, yes, and bites, once the inflicted lose their minds completely."

"There are no bites or scratches on these Duros, though," Lok said.

"There are other ways," the doctor snapped. "Sharing dirty needles, saliva - any number of ways."

"I hardly think the senator was using dirty needles, Doctor," Lok replied.

"What are you implying?" the doctor thundered.

"Did you perform the autopsy?" Lok asked bluntly.

"Autopsy?" Wenlock exclaimed, clearly riled. "Look at them, Jedi. They died of rakghoul disease. What would be the point in an autopsy?"

"Plono was a member of the Galactic Senate, Doctor," Lok replied sternly. "He died far from home on a strange planet, and you cannot tell me how he caught the disease that killed him. An autopsy should be a matter of routine, Doctor - and someone other than you should perform it."

Unsurprisingly, the doctor did not respond well to this. "Fine," he snarled, glaring at the Iridonian. "I'll ask my colleague Dr Forn to do it. It's not like we have anything better to do. And now I must insist that you leave my hospital."

Doctor Wenlock held the mortuary door open and stared at the group. "One last question, please, Doctor," Juno said, knowing that she was pushing her luck. Taking his silence as assent, she quickly continued: "Do you know what the Duros were doing on Taris?"

The doctor sighed, but answered. "He said they'd been at the Tach." Seeing the young Jedi's blank face, he added: "The Bloated Tach. It's a cantina in the Lower City. That's all I know, Miss, okay?"

"I thought you told me he didn't say anything before he died," Lok said, stopping in front of the door and staring the doctor in the eyes.

The doctor returned his stare, turning a deep shade of red. "His assistant," he snarled, "not the senator. And now I'm calling security."

The doctor disappeared down the corridor. "Come on," Slade whispered. "Let's get out of here before he comes back."

Slade led them quickly out of the hospital, through the maze of corridors. Juno breathed a sigh of relief when they reached the promenade and felt the breeze on their faces. The sun had now risen clear of even the highest towers, and people were starting to arrive for work. "I'd better get back," Slade said apologetically. "I think Dr Wenlock's angry enough already."

"Will you be all right, Gurney?" asked Juno, concerned for their hapless guide.

"I'll be okay. He's angry at you, not me," he replied matter-of-factly. "If he asks, I'll say I just found you in there like he did. He's a good man really."

Slade turned to go, and then, scratching his head, added: "I don't know why he said he didn't speak to the Duro, though. They spoke for ages the first time the Senator was here."

Slade spoke slowly, as if he were aware that his words would get the doctor into trouble, but also with an air of innocence.

"Senator Plono had been to the hospital before?" Lok asked, surprised.

"Yeah, before he was ill."

"Do you know why?" Juno asked.

"Sorry, that's all I know," Slade replied. "I really have to get back, see."

And with that he disappeared back into the hospital.

The two Jedi walked slowly away from the exit. "What do you think?" asked the Iridonian.

"Dr Wenlock's hiding something," Juno replied.

"Perhaps," her companion said, less convinced, "but those with the most to hide often appear the most eager to help."

"Then why didn't he tell us the senator had been here before?"

"I don't know," Lok replied. The droid emitted a long bleep, as if to confirm that it did not know either.

"What a terrible way to go," Juno said, changing the subject. She could still picture the twisted bodies lying on the mortuary slaps. "Those poor Duros."

"No argument there," Lok concurred. "Of all the diseases I have ever seen, 'ghoul is the most monstrous by far. The inflicted lose their minds to such an extent that they end up little more than animals. The senator may even have been fortunate to die so quickly."

"How did he get it, though?" Juno asked.

"That, Juno, is the question. That, and what he was doing on this planet in the first place."

"Plus why he died," Juno quipped. "Hey, the doctor said they'd been in the Lower City, wherever that is. Could they have picked something up there?"

"The Lower City is what they call the lower levels I was talking about earlier. And I shouldn't have thought so," Lok added. "If there had been an outbreak, I'm sure we would have heard about it."

"Do you think we should find that cantina he mentioned?"

Lok sighed a deep sigh. "I fear so," he replied, somewhat enigmatically, before adding, "I had hoped to avoid that place."

"The Bloaty Tach?"

"The Lower City, Juno."

"What's it like?" Juno asked. "Is it underground?"

"On the contrary," her companion replied. "It is under our feet, but even the Lower City is high, high in the air. T3, see if you can find the Bloated Tach cantina," he added, addressing their droid. "We'll need to be on our guard down there, Juno. It's not like up here. We'll be in danger."

They had by now stopped walking. Juno turned to her Iridonian companion, confused. "I thought you said there hadn't been an outbreak."

Lok turned round, a serious look on his face - or, rather, a more serious look than normal. "There are worse things in the lower levels than 'ghoul," he said ominously.

As it turned out, the Bloated Tach was not far from Dynamet General. The Jedi followed the droid, which was whistling and whirring away, into a tower opposite the hospital, where they found a turbolift that could take them to the Lower City. Juno stepped into it cautiously, unsure what to expect when it arrived at its destination. The lift started to descend rapidly, falling several miles in just a few seconds. The doors opened. Even Lok took care stepping out of the elevator, and whispered to the droid, "Which way now?"

The robot beeped and turned right out of the doors, trundling along a thoroughfare.

The differences between the upper and lower cities were immediately apparent. The corridors and thoroughfares were in a poor state of repair, with stains and peeling paint on the walls. They were also poorly lit, both by artificial and natural light. There were windows, albeit more widely spaced than in the Upper City, but they mainly looked out onto the sides of towers and, though a little light filtered down to the Lower City, through gaps between the promenades above, there was an unnatural gloom and pallor outside. The towers themselves at this level, unwashed and uncared for, were far removed from the gleaming towers of the world above.

One other difference between the two levels only struck Juno after a couple of minutes: there were far fewer people walking the streets of the Lower City.

The droid whistled loudly and came to a stop. "What's up, boy?" Juno asked, in a voice that made Lok roll his eyes.

"I think we're here," he explained, gesturing into a gloomy alleyway leading off the main thoroughfare. A large door, framed by brightly coloured lights, loomed out of the darkness. A stocky Salonian bouncer stood silhouetted against the doorway, watching them intently.

Lok instinctively pulled his hood forward as far as it would go, and glanced at his companion. "Here we go," he whispered, but the bouncer let them pass without a word, and they entered the cantina.

The Bloated Tach was smaller than the cantina in the Upper City, with far fewer patrons too. This time the Jedi stuck together, standing in the corner for a while until their eyes had adjusted to the gloom. It was mid-morning outside, but inside it could have been any time of day or night.

Near the door there were a number of card tables, and old men playing any number of games: pazaak, tavli, sabacc, lutraki and so on. "Pazaak?" called an old man sitting alone at the nearest table, shuffling a deck of cards.

"Sure," the Iridonian replied cautiously. The old man was human, but seemed friendly enough, unlike the men in the last cantina. "These old timers always know something," Lok whispered to Juno, briefly turning his back on the stranger.

Lok sat down opposite the old man and asked, "What are the stakes?"

"I'm happy to play for fun," the man replied, "just to pass the time. They call me Red," he added, offering his hand to the stranger.

"Lok Zeren," replied the Jedi, shaking his hand. Juno and the droid stood behind Lok, so that there could be no accusation of cheating.

The old man finished shuffling the deck and placed it on the table between them. He then took a second, smaller deck from his pocket, shuffled it, and placed it behind the first deck.

"Four each from the side deck, face down," he announced.

Lok nodded. "I heard there had been an outbreak down here," he said casually as the old man dealt them four cards each from the smaller deck, "but it seems fine."

"Outbreak?" the old man shouted, alarmed.

"Yes. 'Ghoul," the Jedi replied.

"The plague?" gasped Red, surprised. "There ain't been no plague down here for months."

"I guess I heard wrong then," Lok said, shrugging his shoulders, glancing at his cards and shaking his head in disgust.

"Guess so," agreed the old man, and then, seeing the look on Lok's face, he added: "Ain't the cards been kind, offworlder?"

Lok shook his head again. Red turned over the first card from the main deck, a ten, for his opponent. "It's not your lucky day," he said.

"It appears not," Lok replied, and then, still trying to sound casual, he asked: "Did you hear about that senator, old timer?"

"You sure ask a lot of questions for an offworlder," the old man informed him as he turned over a card for himself, a four. "Anyone ever tell you that?"

"I'm just making conversation," the Jedi replied, smiling.

Red turned over a second card for his opponent, a five. Lok thought for a moment and then played one of the four cards in his hand, a four. "I stick," he said.

"Nineteen," Red said, smiling. "Alright, let's see what I got. Yeah, I heard about it. They was down here, believe it or not, that Duro senator and his friend, in the Tach, a while back. They asked a lot of questions too," he added, turning over two cards from the main deck in quick succession, a seven and a nine. "Would you look at that," he exclaimed. "Twenty."

"Well played," Lok said. "What about?"

"This and that," the old man said, shuffling the main deck again.

"Like what?"

"Where they could get drugs - that kind of thing."

"Drugs?" Juno interjected, surprised.

"No," the old man said, correcting himself, "nothing like that. Meds, I mean." He seemed embarrassed, momentarily, but then turned his attention to the table again and dealt his opponent a card.

"Meds?" Lok asked, showing perhaps too much interest. "For 'ghoul?"

"You don't work for Sowrs, do you?" the old man asked, putting the cards down and staring at his opponent.

"I... don't know who that is," Lok replied. His honesty seemed to work, because the old man picked the deck back up and dealt himself a ten.

"Looks like your luck's changing," he informed the Iridonian as he turned over a second card for Lok. "What are you going to do?"

"I'll stick."

"If you're sure," Red said, turning over a second ten for himself. "It's really not your day, is it?"

"It's a good job we're not playing for money," Lok retorted.

"If you say so," his opponent said, shuffling the cards and turning over another for the Jedi. "Yeah, it was weird that senator being down here," he added, unprompted.

"I bet," Lok said, finally managing to make his questioning sound more like polite conversation.

"I said to Lori," the old man continued, dealing himself a six: "I said, it's funny, this rich senator and this rich senator's kid both being here at the same time. Don't normally get no one famous down here."

"How's that?" Lok asked, glancing casually at the three remaining cards in his hand.

"You sure you're not with authorities?" Red asked, though this time he appeared to be joking. He dealt Lok his final card. "Well, what's it going to be?"

"Deal yourself a card, old man," Lok said, pretending to take the game seriously.

"If you're sure," Red said, dealing himself another ten. He then played a card from his hand. "Twenty," he announced.

"Hit me," Lok said, pointing at the deck, before nonchalantly adding: "You were saying something about, er, some rich kid?"

"That's right," the old man replied, turning over a third card for the Iridonian. "Bust!" he exclaimed.

"I guess I'd better use this, then," Lok said, playing another card from his hand. "Do you remember his name?"

"Minus five? That's eighteen. Dante, or Danto or something, I think they said. Okay, here goes," the old man said, turning over a final card from the main deck. "Bust again. Got any more cards?"

"You're too good for me, old man," Lok said, laughing. "Say, do you remember his last name?"

"Oh, yeah," Red replied. "Had the same name as an old mate of mine: Riggs."

"Danto Riggs?" Lok asked immediately.

"Yeah, that's it," his opponent said, nodding his head. "Fancy another?"

"Maybe later," the Jedi said, rising to his feet. "Thank you for the game."

"You're welcome, offworlder."

Lok and Juno walked away from the table, leaving the old man shuffling his cards. "You know this Danto Riggs?" Juno asked.

"Not personally," Lok replied, "but I know his uncle - he was Plono's biggest rival in the Senate. T3, bring up everything you have on Danto Riggs."

"Senator Plono turns up dead," Juno mused aloud, "and his biggest rival's nephew is here on the planet at the same time? That can't be coincidence, can it?"

"It's unlikely," Lok replied, "I agree. While you're at it, T3, start analysing all arrivals and departures for the last six months - anyone suspicious."

"That'll take for ever, won't it?" Juno asked. Lok, however, was silent. "So you think it _was_ murder, then?"

"Wait here," Lok said, suddenly striding towards the bar. He sat down on a stool and ordered two drinks from a surly barman, whose disposition improved slightly when Lok gave him a large tip. The barman stood in front of him, waiting and looking at him expectantly. "Is Danto Riggs around today?" Lok asked. The barman only glowered at the Iridonian, however.

Lok put some more credits on the bar. The barman glanced up and down the bar and then turned around and peered into a private room behind the bar. "Not right now," he informed the Iridonian, "but he uses that room. You can wait for him in there, if you want."

Lok handed over the credits and said, "That would be brilliant." And then, following a hunch, he asked: "Tell me, if I needed some pills for a friend, where could I go?"

The barman frowned. "I guess that would depend what kind of pills," he replied.

"Say my friend had 'ghoul."

"You'd have to try Dynamet General in the Upper City," the man said, clearly no longer in the mood to help. The Jedi put yet more credits on the bar, and the barman leaned forward, pointed to a different private room, on the far side of the cantina, and whispered, "See Zax."

Lok thanked the barman and handed over the credits. As he rose to his feet he glanced into the room on the far side of the bar, before returning to Juno and the droid. "Riggs isn't here," he informed her, "but I have an idea what the senator was doing here."

"What?" squealed his young companion. Lok put his finger to his lips and then ushered her into the empty private room behind the bar. They sat down together in a booth. Juno waited patiently, and finally Lok said: "Don't look, but there's a Hutt in that room... I said 'Don't look'," he warned as Juno started to turn round. "He obviously runs the black market down here," Lok continued. "I'd wager a small fortune he's selling 'ghoul meds."

Juno sat in silence for a moment, struggling to keep up with Master Lok's train of thought. "So the Duros knew they were infected and came here for meds?" she asked.

"For themselves?" her companion asked. He thought for a moment and then replied: "No, that doesn't make any sense, Juno. Plono could easily have afforded treatment. No, I think he came here before he was ill - just like he went to the hospital."

"But why would he do that if they weren't infected?"

It was Lok's turn to be silent. "I don't know," he replied. "All we know for sure is that he was at the hospital, and then he was here asking questions about 'ghoul meds."

"And then he caught the disease," Juno added. "That's an alarming thought."

"What do you mean?" asked her companion.

"We were at the hospital. Now we're here asking questions."

"We'll be fine, Juno," Lok reassured her.

"Though it gives the doctor a motive," Juno continued, thinking aloud, "if he was the one giving your Hutt the drugs."

Lok nodded. "Yes - assuming it was Dr Wenlock that he was looking into. But I still have no idea why a member of the Senate would be conducting such an investigation himself."

* * *

 **CHAPTER 3 The Reluctant Smuggler**

They waited all morning for Danto Riggs, the mysterious relative of the dead senator's rival, and much of the afternoon too. They went over again and again what they had learned so far, about Dr Wenlock, rakghoul disease and the drugs that could keep it under control, though really they were only going round in circles. They decided against interrogating the Hutt Zax, even though he was in the same cantina, and sat in their booth in the private room, gentling nursing their drinks.

"So how does this Riggs fit into this?" Juno asked. Her companion shrugged his shoulders. "You say his uncle and Senator Plono are enemies... were enemies..." she continued.

"Politically, at least," Master Lok cautioned.

"How come?" she asked.

"I don't know the ins and outs of it," he replied, "but Danto Riggs's uncle heads up a rival faction in the Senate. Both men were being talked about as future chancellors."

"Really?" Juno asked, again picturing the Duro's twisted body lying in the mortuary. "That's tragic."

Another hour passed. The cantina started to fill, and a few people wandered into their corner of it, only to be informed by Master Lok that it was a private room. Two customers, a pair of heavily armed Weequays, large aliens with tough, tanned, wrinkly skin, seemed particularly affronted. They left the room eventually, but sat just outside the door, arguing with each other loudly.

Soon afterwards, a young man, perhaps even younger than Juno herself, entered the cantina. He was accompanied by a bigger man, who stood at least a head taller and whose muscles strained against his sleeves. The young man walked over to the bar, shook the barman's hand, chatted to him for a few seconds and then glanced across the cantina straight at the Jedi. The two men then started to stroll towards the private room.

"Here we go," the Iridonian whispered to his companion. Seeing the pistol in the holster strapped to the young man's hip, and the large rifle that the big man was carrying, Lok instinctively loosened his robe and rested his hand on his lightsaber.

The two men stopped a few feet from the booth. "I hear you're looking for me," the young man said to the Jedi, politely enough though, as he spoke, his friend, who really was a mountain of a man close up, kept his eyes firmly on Lok's hand. His own hands were gripping the blaster rifle tightly.

"Danto Riggs?" asked Lok warily.

"Maybe," Danto Riggs replied, even though he had already given the game away. "Who wants to know?"

"My name is Lok. This is my associate Juno Celerier. I wonder if we could have a moment of your time."

"What's this about?" the big man asked. He had a deep voice, a gruff voice - in fact his voice was exactly what Juno had imagined from the moment she first laid eyes on him - and he managed to make even a simple question sound like the most ominous of threats.

At that moment, the utility droid emerged from under the table. "Oh, wow," the young man exclaimed, "is that the new T3 series? I didn't even know they were out yet. Can I touch it?" he asked, though his hands were already all over it before he had finished the sentence. His almost boyish excitement broke the tension, and first he and then the big man sat down in the booth opposite the Jedi.

"This is Holden Gray," Riggs informed them. "Don't mind him," he added, grinning at Holden.

The big man nodded but remained silent and watchful. He was sitting with his back to the door, which he clearly did not like, because he kept turning and glancing over his shoulder.

"Your bodyguard?" asked Juno.

"My bodyguard?" Riggs scoffed. "My uncle sent him here with me to look after me," he explained, without actually denying the suggestion. "So what can I do for you?"

"Did you know Senator Plono was on the planet?" Lok asked carefully.

"Yeah," the young man replied, "and I heard what happened. I know my uncle and Plono weren't... Well, in fact they were... But even so. Are you looking into his death?"

"We are," Lok confirmed, after a moment's consideration.

"They're not Taris security," the big man growled, addressing Danto Riggs, though of course the Jedi could hear.

"Play nice," Riggs whispered to his bodyguard. "He makes a valid point, though," he added, turning to face the Jedi again.

"We're... private investigators," Juno said, thinking quickly on her feet, though not quickly enough for Holden, who pulled a face and snorted.

Danto Riggs leaned back in his seat and smiled. "Let's stop playing games, shall we?" he asked. "You're Jedi knights."

"What makes you say that?" asked Lok, genuinely curious.

"Oh, come off it," Riggs replied: "the way you dress, the way you speak - 'This is my associate'," he said, mimicking Lok's voice - "the way your hand's clearly resting on a lightsaber, the fact you have the new T3 when they're not even on sale yet... Besides, how many Zabrak do you think they get on Taris? You're a Jedi knight and this is your - oh, what do you call it? - padawan."

"I'm no padawan!" exclaimed Juno indignantly.

"Enough," Lok interjected, glancing at Juno and at the young man opposite. "Yes, we are Jedi," he added, lowering his voice. "I am Master Lok Zeren of the Jedi Council, and Juno is, as she says, no longer a padawan."

"Oh, that's so cool," the young man said, taking Lok by surprise. "Can I see your lightsaber?"

"No, you may not," replied the Iridonian. "And since you have dispensed with the games, then allow me to do so too. We are indeed here to investigate the senator's death, and we find ourselves wondering what the nephew of his biggest rival happened to be doing on Taris at the time he died."

The older man shifted forward in his seat, the bench creaking under his weight, but the young man turned to him and said: "Relax, Holden. I get why they're asking. Sure, it's no secret the Duro and my uncle were enemies, but we're not murderers in my family.

"My uncle sent me here to deliver some supplies to a business associate."

"Medical supplies?" asked Lok casually.

"No," Riggs replied, apparently genuinely confused by the question.

"A member of the Galactic Senate sent his own nephew to deliver supplies?" Juno asked, but Riggs simply shrugged his shoulders.

"What did your uncle and the late senator fight about?" Juno asked instead.

"Just politics," Riggs replied, sounding uninterested. "The usual stuff. Listen, my uncle gets it, why the Duros want to rebuild by any means necessary. Hey, their planet got trashed during the war - the Mandalorians and their basilisks. Of course they want to rebuild. But the ends don't always justify the means - at least, that's what my uncle says."

Riggs stared at the table as he spoke, but as he finished speaking he looked up at Juno and smiled, and she unconsciously returned the smile.

"Your friend's Mandalorian, is he not?" asked Lok suddenly. The big man straightened his back and scowled, but Riggs swiftly replied: "He was in the clan, years ago, but he fought for my uncle during the war.

"Listen, Jedi," Riggs continued, still addressing Master Lok, "if I'm a suspect, just tell me when Plono died. I may have an alibi."

"It's not that simple," the Iridonian informed him. "He had 'ghoul."

"Yeah, I know," Riggs retorted, "and you think someone deliberately infected him. So tell me when he caught it."

There was a short silence, broken only by a loud snort by Holden Gray. "You don't know when he caught it, do you?" Riggs asked in disbelief. "Oh, wow. Do you know _how_ he caught it?"

After another short pause, Juno spoke. "We're working on the theory that Senator Plono was looking into the black market down here," she informed him.

"That's why you asked if I was delivering medical supplies," Riggs replied, apparently not offended.

"We've been to the hospital in the Upper City."

"I'm sorry, I can't help you with that. We steer clear of the Upper City, apart from Davik's estate."

"Davik's estate?" Juno asked. She had to speak up, because the two large Weequays who had come into the room earlier were now standing in the doorway hurling abuse at each other. Holden Gray, the bodyguard, had turned right round in his seat and was facing the door, clearly trusting the Jedi enough to turn his back on them.

"Yeah, he's the business associate I told you about," Riggs said, also raising his voice. "We're staying on his estate."

"Davik Kang?" Lok asked.

The young man nodded. "Davik Kang of the Exchange is your uncle's associate?"

"Listen, I know what you're thinking," Riggs replied. "I've heard the stories, but..."

His words were cut short, however, because at that moment the two Weequays went for their blasters, and Holden Gray leaped on top of Riggs and pushed him down to the floor, shielding the young man with his body. The Weequays fired a volley of blaster bolts - not at each other, but straight at the table where the party was sitting, somehow missing the two Jedi, who were sitting ducks. A beam of intense yellow light flashed from Master Lok's lightsaber, and Juno followed suit.

The Weequays upturned a table by the doorway and took cover behind it. Although pinned down, the Jedi were able to deflect the next round of blaster fire, their yellow blades blazing. Master Lok then rolled across the room to another booth, nearer the assailants, and stood on the table, facing them, his lightsaber in front of his chest.

The Weequays were firing at Lok when one of them caught sight of the big man in the corner of his eye. Holden Gray jumped onto the bench, holding his blaster rifle at arms' length, and opened fire. One of the Weequays aimed at Holden - too late: the blasts from Holden's rifle ripped clean through the table, hitting the Weequay square in the chest and sending him flying across the room into the wall behind him.

The other Weequay sprang up and fired a shot at the Mandalorian, but missed. Holden stepped off the bench and moved towards another table. The Weequay poked his head up again, and saw that Juno was standing under a large extractor fan. The alien took aim at the fan and fired. He managed to hit one of the corner bolts securing the fan to the ceiling, a lucky shot perhaps, and the fan came loose.

Juno stood facing the Weequay, ready to deflect his blaster bolts, oblivious to the danger. Master Lok and Holden had not noticed either, but Riggs saw the fan falling, threw his arms at Juno, and flung her into the middle of the room. The fan crashed into the booth, demolishing the table and bench but landing safely.

Seizing his opportunity, the Weequay ran from the room, knocking into stunned patrons in the cantina. Lok and Holden gave chase. Lok was surprised how quickly the big man moved. "Stay here," Holden bellowed at his young friend as he sprinted out of the room.

"Thanks," Juno said to Riggs, picking herself up and putting her lightsaber back in her belt, but she stood in the middle of the room, staring at the young man suspiciously, and backed away as he started to walk towards her.

"Don't mention it," he said. But then, seeing her face, he asked: "What's wrong?"

"How did you do that?" Juno asked.

"Do what? I saw it falling so I pushed you out of the way," Riggs replied, shrugging his shoulders as if to say that it was no big deal.

"You were five feet away," said Juno. "You never touched me..."

"What are you talking about?" Riggs interrupted. "I was right next to you."

"No... you weren't," Juno insisted. "If you'd been next to me, it would have hit you."

"I rolled out of the way," Riggs retorted, shrugging his shoulders again. "I thought you'd be grateful."

"I am," Juno replied, relenting a little. She walked across the room to the fallen Weequay and checked for a pulse, but Holden's rifle had done for the alien. As she was looking at his leathery, lipless face, however, it changed in front of her eyes, and she found herself staring into the large, reptilian eyes of a Clawdite. Its dead, slit-like pupils seemed to meet her gaze, unnerving her.

Riggs came over to have a look. "A changeling!" he exclaimed breathlessly. He looked down at the alien's strange face, sunken cheeks and narrow nose, and asked, "What kind of creature is that exactly?"

"I don't know," Juno replied.

"Come on," he said, "let's go after them."

Juno needed no further encouragement and ran into the main cantina, calling out, "This way, T3." When she reached the door, however, she realised that the droid was not following her. She walked back to the private room and, to her horror, saw the little droid lying on its side, motionless. Juno ran over to it and knelt down beside it, a tear welling in her eyes.

"He must have been hit by the blaster fire," Riggs shouted unhelpfully from the door. And then, hearing the sound of Holden's rifle in the distance, he added: "Come on, or we'll lose them. Forget the droid."

Juno rose to her feet reluctantly, wiping the tear from her eye, and set off quickly after Riggs. They left the cantina and turned right, into the alleyway. The Salonian bouncer was lying outside the cantina entrance in a pool of blood.

As it happened, they easily managed to catch up with Master Lok and Holden Gray: a trail of dead bodies, scorched walls and shaken passers-by led them straight to them. "I thought I told you to stay in the cantina," Holden screamed when he saw Riggs running up behind him.

The second Weequay dived off the street into a building, just as Holden was about to fire. "Druk, he's quick," the big man cursed.

"They're not Weequays," Juno gasped, stopping to catch her breath. "They're shape-shifters."

Master Lok looked at her in alarm. "Clawdites," he hissed at Holden, who stopped in his tracks and clasped a hand on his hip.

"What's 'Clawdites'?" Juno asked.

"Shape-shifting aliens from the Mid Rim," Lok replied. "Master assassins, good with poisons." As he spoke, he advanced cautiously on the building, holding his lightsaber in front of him. He reached the entrance, peered round the corner in both directions and then signalled to the others to follow. Juno heard him cursing under his breath as they approached.

"What is it?" she asked.

"See for yourself," he replied, pointing into the gloom. A large turbolift door, of a different design from the ones that they had seen so far on Taris, sturdier and less elegant, stood in the far corner of the room. There was no other way out.

"What it is, a maintenance elevator or something?" she asked.

"That lift only goes one place," Holden said gruffly. "Undercity."

"The underworld," Lok concurred.

"The underworld?" asked Riggs and Juno in harmony.

* * *

 **CHAPTER 4 A Dead End**

The turbolift took for ever to arrive. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" the Mandalorian asked the Iridonian as they waited for it.

"No," Master Lok replied succinctly.

When it did arrive, the elevator was little more than a large metal box, unadorned, undecorated, but twice the size of the other lifts that they had seen. There was only one button, one destination, and it was not even marked. Holden pressed the button once they were all inside, closing his eyes as he did so. The elevator moved slowly - much more slowly than the other elevators, certainly - although it was also clear that they were descending a very long way, through the Lower City, and then floor after floor of generators and boiler rooms. "When the doors open," Holden growled at Riggs, "stay close to me."

"What's down there?" Juno asked Lok, worried.

"The Undercity is where they send their most violent and dangerous criminals," Lok replied, clearly also concerned.

"Watch out for 'ghouls too," Holden added.

"Do you think the Clawdites killed Plono?" Riggs asked the Jedi master.

"Deliberately infect someone with 'ghoul?" Holden interjected. "No way, it can't be done."

"If anyone could do it," the Iridonian retorted, "it would be the Clawdites."

They made the rest of the journey in silence, the tension growing. By the time the doors finally opened, Juno and Riggs would not have been surprised if a rancor beast itself had leaped into the elevator to devour them. As it turned out, however, there was nothing waiting for them but darkness.

Holden and Lok stepped out of the elevator cautiously, the Mandalorian and the Iridonian walking side by side, and the young man and woman followed. "What's this we're walking on?" Riggs asked, feeling something rough and uneven below his feet.

"The planet surface," Holden whispered to his friend. "This was all valleys, centuries ago, before they covered the face of the planet."

The group trod with care. Little by little their eyes grew accustomed to the gloom of the underworld. Looking back, they saw the base of the tower, inside which they had descended to the surface. It was many, many times the size of the towers in the Upper City. All around them foundations rose from the ground like monstrous plants, though no plant could have grown in that soil.

"Are those lights over there?" Juno asked, pointing into the distance.

"I think you're right," Lok replied, as Holden instinctively readied his rifle. "Unless anyone has got a better idea, I say we check them out."

Try as they might, they others could not come up with a better suggestion. They set off across the rocky ground and found that the lights quickly drew nearer. Holden suddenly signalled from them to stop, and they crouched down behind a wall of rocks. He pointed across the wasteland to something in the distance, in a different direction from the lights: in the gloom they could just about make out a figure, or rather a shape, moving slowly between the rocks. At first it appeared to be heading towards them, but after a while it wandered off in the opposite direction. "A 'ghoul?" Juno whispered, but nobody answered.

They quickly turned their attention back to the lights. Lok ventured a guess: "It appears to be a camp of some kind."

"Only one way to find out," Holden replied.

They set off towards the lights again, but found their path blocked by a barricade of sorts, a few sheets of metal and a flimsy fence. "That's not going to keep the 'ghouls out," Holden muttered, shaking his head as he moved a single piece of metal to allow them to pass.

"Wh-who's there?" they heard someone call out. "D-don't come any closer," the person stuttered, a young woman to judge by the voice.

Juno remembered what Lok and Holden had said about the violent criminals exiled to the Undercity, but to her surprise heard herself shouting: "Don't be afraid, we're not here to hurt you. We just want to talk!"

A pretty face appeared from behind an empty barrel, a girl of no more than sixteen or seventeen. Holden lowered his gun, and the girl cautiously approached the group. She introduced herself as Suki, and after they had been talking for a minute or so Danto Riggs asked, "What are you doing down here?"

"I live here, in the village," the girl answered.

"I thought you said they were criminals down here," Juno whispered to Lok.

The girl must have heard, because she interjected: "Yes, my grandfather killed a man. That's why I'm down here."

"They sent his family down here too?" Juno asked in disbelief.

The girl looked at the young woman. "He was sent down fifty years ago," she replied, confused.

"You were born here?"

The girl nodded her head. "Let me show you round," she said excitedly, skipping off ahead of them towards the lights. The group followed, climbing over the rocks and shards of twisted metal, towards what they could now see was a collection of ragged tents between the bases of two towers.

"Remember," Lok whispered to the others, "if the changeling's down here he could look like anyone."

"Even Suki?" Juno asked in dismay.

"Probably not Suki," Lok replied, deadly serious. "Weequay tend to stay about the same shape and size when they shift - unless they're really good," he added.

The girl led them into the village - really only a handful of tents and no more than sixty people, most below the age of forty. Juno had to remind herself that, although it seemed late at night on account of the darkness and the campfires burning by the tents, it was actually only mid-afternoon.

Suki introduced the group to her friends; Juno tried to remember all their names, while Master Lok and Holden sized them up to see if they could be the shape-shifter. Holden quickly resigned himself to the fact that this approach would not work, and instead simply asked: "Any Weequays come this way?"

"Weequays?" asked one of the villagers. "What are Weequays?"

"Big, ugly aliens," Holden said. "And I mean real ugly: messed-up, ugly faces," he added, running two fingers down his face from his temples, "and sunken, little eyes."

"And no lips," Juno chimed in.

"I know who you mean, upworlder," one of the older villagers said. "I seen them, two of them, going out into the badlands a few days back." A murmur ran round the group, as if to confirm what the man was saying.

"I seen them coming back a couple of days ago," a small child ventured.

"Have you seen them today?" asked Master Lok, and there was a general shaking of heads.

"Do you know where they were going?" Holden asked.

Some of the villagers pointed their arms in opposite directions, and then looked at each other and laughed. "We don't go out there," another villager explained. "There's 'ghouls out there in the badlands."

The visitors conferred briefly. "I can see this turning into a wild goose chase," Holden whispered.

"We can't just let them go," Juno said.

"No, Holden's right," Lok retorted. "We should go, while we can still find the way back."

Holden nodded. They turned and thanked the villagers. "Is there anything we can do to help?" Juno asked the villagers in general and Suki in particular, but the girl shook her head. "Won't you take some credits?" the Jedi insisted.

"We don't use credits," the girl replied politely. "Really, we have everything we need."

They set off back the way that they had come, finding the tower and turbolift without much difficulty. "Well, that was a waste of time," Riggs said cheerfully.

"I never thought I'd be pleased to see the upper levels again," said Lok as the elevator whirred into action.

"Wait, shouldn't we go back to the cantina for T3?" Juno asked.

"You can forget about your droid," Holden announced. "If I know the Tach, that droid will be long gone by now."

Juno turned to Lok. He was about to speak when Riggs interjected. "Don't worry, Juno," he said, trying to console her. "I'm sure someone will take good care of T3 and fix him up."

"And then probably pass him off as his own work," Holden joked.

"The Mandalorian's right," Lok said to Juno. "Let's just go back to the safe house."

They came to part ways in the Lower City, in front of the RTS station. "Does this mean I'm no longer a suspect?" Riggs asked as the Jedi master shook his hand.

"For now," replied Lok, who was not noted for his sense of humour, "we are still pursuing all lead, but the changeling is our main suspect."

Holden's communicator suddenly started to bleep, and he held it out in front of him. "It's Acos," he whispered to Riggs as he took the call. A wavy hologram appeared faintly, a short man in his late thirties.

"Where have you been?" the man asked tersely, without any pleasantries. "I've been trying to reach you all afternoon.

"Never mind," he added. "Is Danto with you?"

"I'm here, Acos," Riggs said, standing next to the Mandalorian so that he would appear to his uncle's assistant.

"I need to speak to you alone," the aide said to Holden. Holden frowned and glanced at his friend.

"What is it?" asked Riggs. "Is something wrong? Tell me!"

"Alright, alright," the aide replied. "Are you sitting down, Danto?"

"Is it my uncle?"

The man was silent for what seemed like an eternity, before nodding. "I'm sorry, Danto. Your uncle's dead. He was killed this morning - in the chamber of the Senate."

* * *

 **CHAPTER 5 The Jedi Academy**

The signal broke up shortly after General Jaso Corona's aide told the senator's nephew the news. He did have time to insist, however, that Danto Riggs stay on Taris and under no circumstances return to the capital. On this point, Holden Gray and Master Lok agreed entirely.

"It's too dangerous," his bodyguard said firmly.

"If someone has killed a Republic senator inside the Senate House itself," the Jedi concurred, "there will be chaos on the streets of Coruscant."

It was left to Juno to try to console the young man, who was clearly devastated. "You don't understand," Danto kept saying. "He wasn't just an uncle to me. He didn't have children. And when my father died..." Danto tried to continue but could not bring himself to say the words.

After a few minutes the two Jedi left Danto with the Mandalorian and retreated a short distance. "Do you think this is connected to our investigation?" Juno asked.

"I do not know," her companion replied. "It is hard to imagine two more different deaths. If Senator Plono was somehow infected with a natural disease, on Taris of all places, then the killers went to quite some lengths to cover their tracks. Killing a war hero on the floor of the chamber of the Galactic Senate, on the other hand... I've never heard of anything like that.

"And yet," he concluded, "we must not rule anything out. We should report in. This is grave indeed."

Juno nodded. "What about Danto?" she asked Lok. "We can't just leave him here, especially with the assassin still at large."

"Why do you assume the assassin was after Danto?" Lok asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Who else..." Juno began to say, and then stopped. "Us?" she asked in alarm.

"I do not know," the Iridonian said again.

"Well, we still can't leave him here like this," Juno continued, pointing at the young man sitting in shock on the street. "Besides, he may be Force-sensitive."

"Oh?"

"When we were in the cantina, he pushed me out of the way of the falling fan."

"That doesn't mean..."

"When he was halfway across the room."

"Interesting," the Iridonian replied, stroking his chin.

"You don't believe me?" Juno asked a little petulantly.

"On the contrary," Lok replied. "I had started to wonder the same thing."

"Really?" Juno asked. "Well, that settles it. We should take him with us to the academy."

Holden had given up trying to talk sense into the young man and came to join their little huddle at that moment. "What's going on?" he asked suspiciously.

"We're leaving Taris," Lok informed him, "for now at least. We're going to report in, and find out what happened on Coruscant. We think Danto should come with us."

The Mandalorian frowned, and Lok quickly added: "You too, of course."

Holden frowned even more, however. "I thought we were on the same page, Jedi," he growled. "Coruscant's too dangerous. You said it yourself," he added, addressing Master Lok but glaring at Juno, as if he blamed her for the Iridonian's change of heart.

"We're not going to the capital," Juno replied indignantly.

"You're not reporting back to the Jedi Council?" Holden asked, confused.

"We were not reporting to the Council on this investigation," Lok informed him, slightly mysteriously: "at least not directly. They know about it, of course," he added swiftly.

"Then where are you going?"

"Dantooine," Juno replied.

"Dantooine?" the Mandalorian asked. "That's even more of a backwater than this place, isn't it? I thought it was just farms and fields."

"There's a training academy there where we can stay," Lok retorted.

"A Jedi academy?" Holden asked suspiciously. "You're thinking of training the kid, aren't you?"

"So you've noticed his... special abilities, then, have you?" Lok asked.

Holden Gray stood in silence for a moment and then nodded. "Isn't he too old, though?" he asked.

"Before the war, perhaps," Lok replied honestly. "Now, though...

"There is no guarantee that they will accept him," he continued, "but you will both be safe."

"Okay," Holden agreed, "but, if they want him, it's got to be the kid's choice."

"Naturally," Lok replied.

"Alright. His uncle's associate has a ship we can use."

"Davik Kang?" Lok asked. "Nothing personal, and I know he was a friend of General Corona's, but I don't trust the Exchange, especially now the general is dead. It would be safer to take the shuttle, anyway."

The Mandalorian stood in silence again. Eventually he agreed, perhaps seeing some sense in the Jedi's caution.

The Jedi went to the safe house to collect their things, and then on to the spaceport. Mercifully, there was still no trace of Gorton Colu, the bitter old man, outside the apartment.

As they were walking along the brightly lit promenades, Juno turned to Master Lok and said: "You know, I think you've got this place all wrong. There may be more beauty and fine clothes and all that higher up, but the people actually get better the further down you go."

Master Lok raised an eyebrow. "Taris, you mean?" he asked - "or the galaxy in general?"

Juno smiled. "Besides," he added, "you may have felt differently, had we encountered 'ghouls."

"Well, we'll be coming back here, right?" Juno quipped: "there's still time."

They met Holden Gray and Danto Riggs at the spaceport, and boarded the shuttle together. There were two cabins left, and they took them. During the course of the flight, Juno visited the on-board cantina, where she found the young man sitting on his own. His mood had improved a little, and Juno found that she could at least talk to him. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Apart from the whole dead relative thing?" Danto dead-panned. "Yeah, pretty good." He smiled, and Juno smiled too, more out of relief than anything else.

"I see you're sharing a room," he said, glancing in the direction of the Jedi Master, who was also in the cantina. "Something going on there I should know about?"

"No!" Juno exclaimed, slightly flustered. "That's not even allowed."

"So I hear," said Danto, "but I thought... well, you know."

"No!" Juno replied.

"You're not exactly what I expected," said Danto. "You're not exactly a typical Jedi knight."

"What do you mean?" asked Juno, clearly offended.

"Hey, relax," Danto said, smiling. "You see - that right there, for example. Now, Zeren - he's a proper Jedi. No sense of humour - like, literally none at all - and no emotion. You could tell him his whole planet had been destroyed and he wouldn't flinch a muscle."

Juno stared at Danto in disbelief. She did not know whether to be insulted or flattered. "I did finish my apprenticeship early," she said eventually, "because of the war and everything. But I'm sure Master Kavar would not have recommended me for the trials if I wasn't ready."

"Wait, Lok wasn't your master?"

Juno shook her head. "No. They said I showed a flare for investigation... and, well, here I am."

As there was no spaceport on Dantooine, the travellers had to change at Dantooine Station and board a smaller shuttle to the planet's surface. They flew in over green and yellow fields, a mixture of farmland and wild plains, passing right over the Jedi enclave itself and landing just outside the academy.

As soon as they landed, Master Lok was summoned to an emergency meeting of the Jedi Council, already in session via hololink to the capital. Master Lok was now one of three Jedi masters on Dantooine, and they sat together in the council chamber. The others waited outside the enclave for a few minutes, mainly so that Danto could take in the amazing scenery, which stretched as far as the eye could see in every direction. Danto had grown up in the capital, and was not used to so much open space.

The first thing Juno noticed when she entered the academy with Holden and Danto was how few initiates there were, even compared to her own time there towards the end of the Mandalorian Wars, when places had been understandably limited. They stood in the central courtyard, under the boughs of the ancient blba tree, for several minutes before anyone passed by. "Where is everyone?" Juno asked, though she was really only talking to herself.

All of a sudden, Juno noticed a man on the far side of the courtyard, a kind-looking, bald-headed man in his early fifties. Calling out, "Dorak!" Juno went skipping across the courtyard towards him. He turned round, startled, and sQuinned at her face. Danto Riggs and the Mandalorian exchanged glances and followed her.

"Juno Celerier," the Jedi said, recognising her face and smiling. "What brings you back?" he asked. "Have you come to finish your training?"

Juno looked offended, very briefly, and then realised that he was joking. "Let me introduce you to my friends," she said, as they approached. "Dorak, meet Danto Riggs and Holden Gray."

"Riggs?" asked Dorak. "As in Admiral Riggs?"

"He's my uncle," Danto replied.

"Wait a minute," Juno said, interrupting. "You have another famous uncle?" That's too confusing."

"If it helps," Danto replied, "think of Uncle Anto as the one who isn't dead."

"And one of them was a general," Juno continued, undeterred, "and one of them was an admiral?"

"One of them still is," Danto replied. "Jaso is - was - my mother's brother. Anto was my father's brother."

"You're General Corona's nephew?" Dorak asked. "Please, accept my condolences."

"Thank you."

"Holden was friends with the general," Juno added.

"Oh," said Dorak, smiling politely at the Mandalorian.

"Do you know what happened to my uncle, Master Jedi?" Danto asked.

"I'm sorry," Dorak replied. "You should speak to Master Vrook or Master Vandar about that. I'm not a master."

"Not yet, anyway," Juno chimed in. "Dorak is the Order's chronicler, though everyone knows he should be master too by now. Everyone except the Council, that is."

"Now, now, Juno. The wisest gardener respects the stone," Dorak replied. Juno could not be sure, but felt that she was being rebuked somehow. "I'm on the enclave council," Dorak added. "That's enough."

"Master Vrook's still here then?" Juno asked, in a tone which suggested that she was not eager to be reacquainted with her former teacher.

"Yes," the chronicler replied, "though you will no doubt be aware that Master Kavar has left us. Bolook's still here, of course, and we're getting a new master soon."

Their conversation was interrupted, to Holden's relief, by Lok Zeren, who reappeared from the chamber. Dorak made his excuses and left, and the Iridonian informed the others: "Master Vandar is eager to meet you, Danto."

Juno, Danto and Holden followed Master Lok into the building. "What was your meeting about?" Juno asked as they walked.

"What is discussed in Council," he replied, "stays in Council. I can say, though, that Master Vandar is willing to answer any questions about General Corona," he added, turning to Danto, "assuming he's able to."

They entered an antechamber and Lok turned to face the Mandalorian. "I'm sorry, Holden," he said, "but I'm afraid I have to ask you to wait here. Only Jedi and prospective Jedi are permitted beyond this door."

"I go where he goes," Holden growled, standing beside Danto.

"It's all right, Holden," the young man said. "I'm sure I won't come to any harm." His bodyguard glanced at him but went to sit on a bench.

"Let's go," Lok said to the other two. " Master Vandar is waiting."

"Master Vrook won't be joining us?" Juno asked casually, secretly relieved that she would not have to face the teacher who tormented her most during her stay in the enclave.

"He was called away on urgent business as soon as our meeting ended," whispered Lok as they approached the chamber door.

"What could be more urgent than the death of two senators?" Juno asked loudly - perhaps a little too loudly - clearly aggrieved.

"Someone disturbed the ancient ruins beyond the enclave's bounds last night," Lok informed her. "Vrook has gone to investigate. It is a serious matter." As he spoke, he entered the chamber door and ushered Juno and Danto into the room.

The council chamber was a vast space, and seemed even bigger because of the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out in opposite directions over the fertile plains and rivers beyond the enclave. The room may also have seemed bigger than it was because there was no furniture in it, and only one creature, who was little more than two feet tall. Master Vandar stood in the middle of the room, in a dip in the floor, reducing his stature even further. He had three fingers, pointy ears, and was green.

"What the hell kind of creature is that?" Danto whispered to Juno, inaudibly, or so he thought.

The little master's ears twitched, however, and he replied: "Kind of creature not important is, hmm? Creature of kind more important."

Danto stood stock-still, open-mouthed, unsure how to react.

"Master Vandar," Lok interjected, "this is Jaso Corona's nephew, Danto Riggs. Danto, Master Vandar Tokare is the oldest of our order."

After a slightly rocky start, Danto was able to ask about his uncle's death. Vandar told him what he knew of the murder, and that the killers, his uncle's closest friends and associates, were still in the capital and, even more surprisingly, still attending sessions of the Senate. The one question that Vandar could not answer to Danto's satisfaction, however, was why his uncle was murdered.

"Civil war there may be," Vandar concluded by saying, "when Admiral Riggs's fleet reaches the capital."

"My uncle plans on avenging my uncle?" Danto asked, before realising what he had just said. "Uncle Anto's going to make them pay for what they did to Uncle Jaso?"

"Passionate this one is," noted Vandar, mainly to himself.

"I don't understand," said Danto. "How did they get knives into the chamber in the first place? Isn't there security?"

"Of bone their weapons were," Vandar replied. "Well planned this attack was."

"It seems Danto is Force-sensitive, Master," Lok said, after a few seconds' silence.

"Trained in the ways of the Force he should be, hmm?"

"I do not presume to judge, Master."

"And you," Vandar said, addressing Danto. "Willing to learn are you?"

"Until I can return to Coruscant," Danto replied carefully.

Master Lok shook his head. "Discuss this in private we will," Vandar said, glancing at his fellow master.

Danto realised that he had said something wrong and interjected: "I am willing to learn, Master."

Juno stepped forward too. "Danto's a good man," she chimed in.

"Thank you - both," Lok said. Danto took the hint and walked to the door. Juno followed him, and they left the chamber together.

"Strong in the Force this one is. Stronger than you knew, hmm?" Vandar asked his erstwhile apprentice.

"Perhaps," Lok replied.

"Not ideal this is," Vandar said astutely.

"Yes," Lok replied, "but then I don't know what 'ideal' is these days. Is it ideal we lost so many of our Order in the war - and afterwards? Is it ideal that we rush initiates through their training? Is it ideal that padawans are facing their trials so soon, and entering the galaxy without a proper understanding of our code?" Lok asked.

"Juno Celerier you think about, hmm?" Vandar asked. Lok nodded, momentarily ashamed of himself, and they left the subject there.

"Much you learned on Taris?" the little master asked.

"We have a few leads," the Iridonian replied, "but nothing solid as yet. Tell me, Master, do you believe Plono and Corona's deaths could be related?"

"Very different those two deaths were."

"I agree," said Lok. "I can see no possible connection between their deaths - and yet still I feel they are connected somehow."

"Trust your feelings you should," Vandar advised. "The general's death could have been revenge for Plono, hmm?"

"Perhaps," Lok replied, "had Corona been killed by Plono's side, but it looks like he was killed by his own faction."

"Deceiving," the little master replied, "looks can be. The Dark Side clouds all. Harder to unravel this mystery is."

Juno and Danto waited for Lok in the antechamber with Holden. When he emerged, they immediately asked about Danto. "Master Vandar has given his consent," Lok announced. "You begin your training tomorrow - if you still want to."

"I want to," Danto said, beaming from ear to ear. Holden slapped him on the back, and Juno hugged him.

"You can't have a bodyguard in training," she joked.

"I'll have one of the apprentices show you to your quarters," Lok promised. "Juno and I still have to report back."

"You didn't do that yet?" asked Holden in disbelief.

"No. It is not something we can do from the enclave," Lok replied mysteriously.

* * *

 **CHAPTER 6 Dol Grenna**

In the end, Master Lok and Juno waited until dawn the following day to set out. They took two speeders from the enclave and made their way over the plains, stopping just once by a stream to watch a pack of kath hounds playing in the long grass. The beasts were docile, and ignored the Jedi.

They arrived at the small farmstead shortly after midday, and left their speeders at the garden gate, walking up the path on foot. The old man whom they had come to see emerged from the farmhouse and stood on the threshold, beaming brightly at them. After they had greeted each other formally and he had shown them some of the plants beside the garden path, they entered the small house together and sat in its old-fashioned kitchen.

Dol Grenna was an avuncular man with rosy cheeks and fine, snowy white hair. He was simply dressed, as befitted his surroundings. When he spoke, his voice always seemed to be on the point of cracking. He asked the Jedi what they had learned on Taris, and they told him about the uncooperative doctor, the black market medicine, the Clawdite assassins and, lastly, the presence on Taris of the nephew of Senator's Plono's rival, the late general. "And do you suspect this young man?" Dol Grenna asked the Iridonian Jedi master inquisitively.

"No, Sir," Master Lok replied. "In truth, I do not."

"Call me Dol," insisted the old man.

"Yes, Sir," Lok replied, without irony.

"I believe him to be incapable of murder," Juno added, somewhat grandly. She had found herself speaking unnaturally in the old man's presence on their first visit too.

"Danto Riggs is strong in the Force. He is to be trained here on Dantooine."

"Does he know I am here?" the old man asked, with a sudden look of concern. "Zed said no one should know I was here except the Jedi Council," he added. "Oh, and you, of course, Juno, dear."

"No, Sir," Lok replied. "He doesn't know who we're working for."

The old man nodded his head. "I knew his uncle, of course. He was a good man - a great man - even if we didn't always agree on everything. But it's better for everyone that the boy doesn't know.

"What a terrible business that was," the old man continued, digressing a little, as was his wont. "Zed said he witnessed the whole thing. Stabbed in the back, by his own friends - and so soon after dear old Plono, as well."

"Do you think they're connected, Sir?" Lok asked casually.

"I don't see how," replied the old man. "Besides, a tragedy though General Corona's death was, it's my friend's death that need answers," he added, referring to the Duro senator. "I don't mean to sound callous, of course, but there's no mystery about the general's death."

"Apart from their motive, you mean," Juno interjected. The old man nodded his head gravely and did not seem to mind being corrected.

"It would really help us if we knew what Senator Plono was doing on Taris," Lok said. "We are in the dark here."

"But I told you," protested Grenna, albeit good-naturedly, "I don't know. Zed told me he was on a trade mission. I know no more than that."

The Iridonian shook his head. "Then may we speak to Senator Janus?" he asked.

"Oh dear," mumbled the old man. "Zed said he'd find out what happened to Plono. If he finds out I've asked the Jedi to look into it too... I don't think he'll be happy. Oh dear, oh dear." he repeated, muttering the words into his robes.

"Please, Sir," Lok insisted.

"Do you have no other lines of enquiry?"

Lok went to shake his head, but Juno interjected: "There is the autopsy."

The old man's eyes lit up. Glancing askance at his companion, Lok said: "We're still awaiting the results, Sir. The doctor I mentioned agreed to an independent autopsy."

"We should wait and see what news the autopsy brings, then," Grenna said, drawing a line under their previous conversation. "When will the report be ready?"

"Any day, I imagine," Lok replied.

"Splendid!" the old man exclaimed. "You can use my droid to see if it's ready, if you wish. T1!" he called out.

Grenna rose slowly to his feet and walked into the other room. After a few seconds, an ancient utility droid trundled into the kitchen and came to a creaking halt in front of the Jedi.

"You'll never reach Taris on that," Juno predicted.

After a few seconds more, the droid beeped indignantly, clearly offended.

"T1," said Lok, slowly and clearly, "can you access the medical archives? Is there a report there for the attention of Master Lok Zeren?" he asked, spelling out the letters of his name.

The droid whirred away for what seemed like an eternity. Suddenly, a message began to play, a recording of Dr Zelka Forn performing the autopsy of the Duro senator. "That looks like Dr Wenlock," Juno said immediately.

The Jedi Master tilted his head slightly. "It's not," he said, "but they certainly look similar, I'll grant you that."

Lok fast-forwarded through the recording to the end. After a few minutes the old man reappeared and asked: "Did T1 find anything useful?

"This little fellow's my lifeline to the outside world," he added, patting the robot's head, "though Zed said I should route any communications through his office."

"Perhaps," the Iridonian replied. "Your friend had an unexplained puncture wound on his foot. His aide too, in exactly the same place."

"From a needle?" the old man asked. "You think this was how they caught the disease?"

"It certainly looks that way."

"So it was murder then!" Grenna cried, almost triumphantly.

"Perhaps the assassins injected it while they were sleeping," Juno ventured... "or Dr Wenlock."

"But that would mean someone has found a way to put the rakghoul disease in a needle."

"That's a scary thought," said the old man, and both Jedi nodded silently.

"That's not all," Lok added. "Although Dr Wenlock was giving them drugs to slow the progress of the infection, the levels left in their bodies were well below what Dr Forn expected to find."

"What does that mean?" the old man asked. "Are you saying the doctor was only pretending to treat my friend?"

"He was injecting them regularly," Lok replied. "There were the right number of needle marks in their arms. But it appears the medication had either been diluted to a point where it was no longer effective, or..."

The Iridonian fell silent. "Or what?" asked the old man.

"Forgive me," Lok replied. "The alternative does not bear thinking about. It is possible that the medication Dr Wenlock gave them actually speeded up the infection."

"Are you he injected them with some kind of poison?" asked Juno, incredulous, "and then tried to cover it up by not doing an autopsy? We've got to go back to Taris..."

"Do not jump to conclusions," Lok cautioned his young companion. "If Dr Wenlock knew about the medication, why did he agree to an autopsy at all?"

"You didn't really give him a choice."

"Perhaps," said Lok, still unconvinced. "Sir, would you mind if I used your droid to send a message to the Taris authorities?"

"Would you be terribly offended if I asked you to send the message yourself, Master Jedi?" the old man asked, pointing at the Iridonian's holo-communicator. "Zed said I'd be safer if I didn't send any messages.

"I want you to catch whoever killed my friend," he continued, "but make sure you get the right man," he added, rising slowly to his feet again and walking towards the front door. For the first time he spoke with real authority. "If it was these assassins, then I want to know who hired them, Master Jedi."

Juno and Lok followed the old man to the door, and Lok replied: "Of course, Supreme Chancellor."

Dol Grenna had only been Supreme Chancellor for a few months, since the end of the Mandalorian Wars, when the previous chancellor, Chancellor Cressa, retired, towards the end of his second term, on grounds of ill health. The old man had been elected unopposed, a caretaker leader for the forthcoming period of reconstruction. A normal election was scheduled for the end of the year, and Grenna was not expected to stand again because of his advanced years. The real contenders for the chancellorship had preferred to keep their powder dry, in other words, and let the old man see out a difficult few months.

"How old is he anyway?" Juno asked as she and Lok walked back to their speeders. "He must be eighty if he's a day," she added without waiting for an answer. "And why doesn't he want us to talk to Senator Janus?"

"I do not know," Master Lok replied, "but it does sound like a strange relationship."

"You can say that again," Juno giggled. "'Zed said,' 'but Zed said,'" she muttered, mimicking the chancellor's croaky voice.

"Indeed," Master Lok concurred. "I heard that Janus was the chancellor's right-hand man, but I'm starting to wonder now if it isn't the other way round."

"Do you think he's covering for Janus?"

"Perhaps," Lok replied noncommittally, "but he may not know it. I do believe he is sincere in his desire to find out what happened to his friend... But I don't buy that line about Plono being on a trade mission, or vacation or whatever it was. I'm not sure the chancellor buys that himself.

"Master Vandar would say these are political matters that do not concern us, of course," he added. "But I feel we should pay Senator Janus a visit."

Before they left the farmstead, Master Lok sent not one but two messages to Taris. One was to Dr Zelka Forn at Dynamet General Hospital, advising him to check the remaining stocks of rakghoul disease medication, if he had not done so already. The other was to the Taris Civil Authority, advising them to monitor the stocks.

The sun was beginning to set when they returned to the Jedi enclave. They spotted Danto Riggs in the courtyard, meditating with the handful of other initiates. Holden Gray was watching him, bemused, still clutching his blaster rifle.

"How's he shaping up?" Master Lok asked Dorak, who was standing on the far side of the courtyard by the entry ramp.

"Very well," the chronicler replied, clearly surprised by the young man's progress. "You're just in time, by the way," he added.

It turned out that there was to be another emergency meeting in the academy council chamber. As it was not technically a session of the Jedi Council, Juno was permitted to attend, along with Chronicler Dorak and the Jedi who had passed their trials. They sat on benches in the corner of the chamber, out of sight. Initiates and padawans were not permitted to attend, needless to say.

Master Vandar and Master Lok sat in the middle of the room, in the midst of holograms of the other members of the Jedi Council. Juno recognised her old master, Master Kavar, and several others, including Master Zez-Kai Ell, who was easy to spot on account of his distinctive moustache, and Master Atris. There was one empty seat, which was filled by the hologram of a dark-skinned Twi'lek some minutes later. Juno did not recognise him, but Dorak turned to her when the Twi-lek joined the conversation, and whispered, "That's the academy's new master."

Although he was on Dantooine, Master Vrook also attended via holo-link. Juno scowled at the hologram when she saw it, immediately recognising his heavy brow in spite of the distorted signal. He did not reveal his location, and no one asked him for it. The masters were scattered throughout the galaxy, in fact, although several of them were together in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

A Kel Dorian master, whom Juno did not recognise, did much of the talking. He said that General Corona's assassins had agreed to take up postings in far-flung corners of the galaxy, far from Coruscant. Senator Organa was leading a trade mission to the Outer Rim; Kit Cascara, Senator Cascara's brother, was leading a diplomatic mission to Onderon, where trouble was brewing, and his brother was going with him; as for the general's closest ally, Senator Kype Quinn, he had been appointed ambassador to Abregado-rae, in the Abregado system. The assassins were still members of the Senate, but would not be in the capital and so would be unable to attend sessions - a compromise that worked for everyone, or so the Kel Dorian said.

Juno sat in the corner, listening to the conversation, which was calm and measured, growing more and more impatient. Eventually she called out: "I don't understand why no one's arrested them."

"Who said that?" Master Vrook asked sternly.

"Apologies, Master Vrook," Lok replied. "We are not alone in the room," he added, glancing severely at Juno.

"She makes a good point, though," one of the other masters said. Juno looked to see who was speaking, and realised that it was Master Zez-Kai Ell, who was in Alderaan at present. "The last I heard, murder was still illegal on Coruscant - even the murder of a senator," he added.

Several of the other masters laughed. The Kel Dorian did not laugh, however, and simply replied: "In view of the seriousness of the allegations against the late general, and while investigations are ongoing, Senator Janus felt this was the best solution."

Lok and Juno exchanged glances. Zez-Kai Ell snorted but said nothing.

"You mean Janus hopes this'll be enough to appease Admiral Riggs when he arrives with the fleet?" Master Atris asked instead.

The Kel Dorian did not reply, and the others took his silence to mean that he agreed with her assessment. However, another Jedi master, a human, said: "Senator Janus has asked that we give these men our full support, as members of the Galactic Senate, if they come our way."

A murmur ran round the room. "I'll go to Onderon," vowed Kavar. "I have contacts there."

"I'll keep an eye out for Organa, in case he turns up here," Zez-Kai Ell whispered, almost menacingly.

"What learned have we," Master Vandar asked, "of the accusations against the General?"

"Only that he was planning a coup," the Kel Dorian replied, "with the help of the Exchange."

"I find this hard to believe," interjected Master Vrook, who had fought alongside Jaso Corona in the Mandalorian Wars. He too spoke with a deep, gravelly voice imbued with authority.

"Not our place to judge it is," cautioned Vandar, "until the facts are known, hmm?"

There was a moment's silence. Finally, the Kel Dorian spoke again. "There's also the matter of the senator for Ryloth. Things have developed in the last few days. She has been charged now."

"Our own investigator to Manaan," Vandar suggested, "we should send. What say you, Master Sentinel?"

Lok glanced at his little friend. "I fear our hands are full with our current investigations," he replied. "We are low on numbers after the war - just like the rest of you," he added quickly.

"The living must take priority over the dead," said Vrook.

"Your assistant send you could," the little master croaked, glancing across the chamber at Juno.

"Perhaps we should continue this discussion after our meeting," Lok said, and a number of the other masters nodded.

When the meeting ended, Lok glanced disapprovingly at Juno again but, to her surprise, the little green Jedi smiled.

"It sounds like this Senator Janus fellow is pulling all the strings," Dorak commented from his seat on the bench beside Juno.

"Attempting to avoid civil war he is," Master Vandar retorted. And then, turning to Juno, Dorak and the others, he whispered: "Leave us you should."

* * *

 **CHAPTER 7 Water World**

In spite of Master Lok Zeren's objections, it was soon agreed that Juno Celerier would travel to Manaan alone, to investigate the mysterious case of the senator for Ryloth. Juno objected too, as it happened, eager to pursue the investigation into Senator Plono's death, but she was promptly overruled.

Juno said her goodbyes to her masters and went to board the shuttle from the enclave to the orbital station. As she was climbing the ramp, however, she saw Danto Riggs and his Mandalorian bodyguard coming out of the academy, and returned to say goodbye. "I tried to find you," she apologised, hugging both men, Danto in particular.

"So..." he said awkwardly. "Your first investigation on your own. You must be nervous, huh?"

"Master Lok said I could contact him whenever I wanted," Juno replied, though she did not deny the young man's assertion.

"Will I see you again?" he asked, as casually as he could.

"Of course," she replied earnestly. "Next time I see you, you'll be a Jedi knight for sure."

They bade a fond farewell, and Juno boarded the shuttle. Danto Riggs returned to the academy and his training, and Holden Gray went to sit in his room in the enclave and work on his blaster rifle.

As Master Vandar had rightly predicted, Juno headed not to the planet Ryloth itself, deep in the Outer Rim on the Corellian Run, but to the Inner Rim, the Pyrshak system and the water world of Manaan. Her shuttle descended rapidly over the ocean, and Juno sat staring out of the window, as it raced over the waves, all but skimming them.

Manaan was an ocean planet, unaligned to the Republic, and the Selkath, the amphibious aliens who lived there, were fiercely proud of their autonomy. The shuttle docked at the spaceport in Ahto City a little after midday. Ahto City was in fact the only settlement of any description above the waves, the other cities being underwater. It had been built on miles and miles of floating pontoons, specifically for the offworlders who came to the planet to trade, which made it, by default, the officially sanctioned capital of Manaan.

As soon as Juno tried to leave the spaceport, she was approached by a Selkath official, a blue, flat-headed creature, who spoke in a strange, rasping language that she struggled to understand. Juno was distracted by the dark, honeycomb-like camouflage on the creature's skin, and the dangly cephalic lobes hanging over its mouth - so distracted, in fact, that she failed to notice the official taking her lightsaber until it was too late. She protested, but was eventually made to understand that the weapon would be returned to her only when she was ready to leave the planet.

"You don't need this device," she said, waving her hand at the official as she spoke. The Selkath, however, insisted that he did indeed need the device. Seeing that other passengers from the shuttle were having their weapons confiscated, Juno wisely decided not to push the point any further.

She made her way on foot from the spaceport to the Republic embassy, a half-hour walk away, marvelling at the free-flowing architecture, open vistas and swirling patterns that adorned every wall and walkway. She was struck by how clean the streets were, with not a single piece of garbage in sight.

Every so often Juno would pass through an open square or across a bridge, watched every step of the way by security cameras, and find herself face to face with endless ocean, staring out across a vast blue nothingness stretching as far as the horizon - and further.

The Republic embassy was, compared to the rest of Ahto City, slightly disappointing. It was a small, unobtrusive building, the entrance of which lay between a second-hand parts shop and what appeared to be a bookmaker's. Juno tentatively approached the door, which opened by itself, and walked into reception.

Juno was clearly not the only new arrival that day: an older man was being shown round the embassy as she entered. He was obviously a man of some importance, because a large group of Republic officials was hanging on his every word. Juno felt sure that she had seen his face before, but could not place him.

Juno waited patiently in the reception. Her contact in the embassy was Arruna Tak'sa, the senator for Ryloth's aide. Eventually the senator's aide arrived, a pretty, young Twi'lek with yellow skin, painted eyebrows and plaited lekku, the long, tendril-like "brain-tails" that grew from the back of her head. Arruna apologised for keeping the Jedi waiting. The Twi'lek spoke flawless Basic; in fact, as a senator's aide, she was fluent in more than sixteen languages.

Arruna led Juno to a private room deep into the embassy. It was empty, except for two chairs and a computer. Juno sat down on one of the chairs, and asked the senator's aide to begin at the beginning.

It soon transpired that Senator Vao, the senator for the Twi'lek home world of Ryloth, had come to Manaan to meet a second senator, Senator Den Crix of Mirial.

"Why meet on Manaan?" Juno asked, interrupting the senator's aide almost as soon as she had begun. "Why not Ryloth or Mirial?"

"They wanted to meet somewhere secure," Arruna replied, "somewhere neutral, especially after what happened on Taris."

"And where could be securer than Manaan?" Juno asked - a rhetorical question.

"That's what we thought," the aide said, a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"What was the meeting about?"

The Twi'lek, who had been forthcoming until this point, clammed up, suddenly reluctant to answer the Jedi's questions. Juno reminded her of the importance of the investigation, that anything she said would be in confidence, and that, if they were to help the senator, she would need to know everything. Arruna, however, simply kept repeating: "I'm unable answer your question."

Eventually Juno gave up. "Alright, tell me what happened that night," she said instead.

"The senator waited in her room for Senator Crix."

"You waited with her?" Juno asked, interrupting again. The Twi'lek nodded. "What happened? Did Crix not show?"

"No, he showed," Arruna replied. "He was there at eight on the dot, just as we'd agreed," she added, walking over to the computer, which she had set up ready for them. There was a paused holo-recording, apparently taken from the senator's hotel's surveillance system, which showed an empty corridor and a hotel room door.

"How did you get this?" Juno asked suspiciously.

"The authorities," the Twi'lek replied simply. "They make footage available to both sides. I'm the senator's arbiter - it's kind of like a lawyer; it's a Selkath thing - I get to see all the evidence."

Without further explanation, Arruna played the recording. It showed a large Mirialan and a second, thinner Mirialan walking down the corridor towards the camera, stopping and knocking on the hotel room door. The door opened, and Juno recognised Arruna, or more accurately part of Arruna's face, behind the door. The time and date were stamped on the recording. The time was recorded as eight o'clock precisely, just as Senator Vao's aide had said.

"That's Senator Crix?" Juno asked, pausing the recording and pointing at the larger Mirialan.

The Twi'lek aide nodded her head. "Why did they meet at the hotel?" Juno asked. "Why not at the embassy?"

"I can't answer that," Arruna replied.

"Can't... or won't?" Juno sighed in frustration, but Arruna ignored her and resumed the holo-recording. After a couple of minutes, both aides - Arruna and the thin Mirialan - came out of the hotel room and sat on a bench in the corridor, facing the hotel room door. Juno speeded up the recording, and eventually asked: "When does Senator Vao come out?"

"She doesn't," the Twi'lek replied, to Juno's surprise. "Not till the next morning. He comes out in about an hour," she added, skipping forward to the senator from Mirial emerging from the hotel room. He briefly exchanged pleasantries with Arruna before departing with his aide; Arruna then re-entered the hotel room.

"So Senator Vao has an alibi?" Juno asked, confused. "The perfect alibi, in fact - a member of the Galactic Senate."

"You'd think," Arruna retorted, smiling wryly. "But because the senator doesn't actually appear in the recording, the Selkath authorities don't accept the holo as evidence."

"But can't Senator Crix corroborate this?" Juno asked, suddenly indignant on behalf of the Twi'lek senator. "His word must count for something."

"Of course," Arruna replied, "and his aide, and me. We're all going to be witnesses at the trial, in spite of everything. But the Selkath don't trust offworlders - even senators. Especially senators, in fact."

"But the recording must show Senator Vao coming and going," Juno said.

"Of course," the young Twi'lek repeated. "It shows her entering the room that afternoon and leaving the following morning," she added, "like I said, but the Selkath say she could have come and gone in between, some other way."

"Is there another way out?" asked Juno. "Connecting doors? A back way out?"

"No," replied Arruna, shaking her head. "There's a window, but we were on the fifteenth floor. There's no way."

"And the senator was definitely in the room when you went back in?" Juno asked.

"Definitely," Arruna replied.

Juno fixed the young aide in the eye. "Were they having an affair?" she asked sternly.

Arruna giggled. "No," she replied. "He's not the senator's type."

"Then why were they meeting in her hotel room?" Juno persisted, and then, anticipating the Twi'lek's response, she changed tack: "Alright, would it be fair to say they didn't want their meeting to be public knowledge?"

Arruna remained silent, but did not refuse to answer the question. Encouraged, Juno asked: "Was that also part of the reason they met on Manaan? - so they were outside Republic space?"

Arruna tilted her head, only a fraction, but enough to confirm the Jedi's suspicions.

"Show me the other recording," Juno said, tapping the screen. The Twi'lek brought up a second recording, which showed what appeared to be a bar. The second recording showed the same time and date stamp as the first. "This is the hotel bar?" Juno asked, and the senator's aide nodded.

Arruna played the recording. A few minutes after eight, an older Twi'lek female walked into the room and ordered a drink at the bar. "That's the senator," her aide said, unnecessarily. Arruna then skipped to a later section of the recording, which showed the Twi'lek senator talking to a Kaleesh male, a scaly reptile. The senator appeared to be the worse for wear.

"This was while the senator was in her room, meeting with Crix?" Juno asked, and the senator's aide nodded. Juno then watched in horror as the senator launched a furious, apparently unprovoked assault on the reptile, clawing, scratching and biting his face and arms like a wild animal, until the other drinkers in the bar managed to drag her away from him. The reptile lay motionless on the floor; the senator managed to escape the bystanders' grasp and fled from the bar, shrieking maniacally.

"Goodness," Juno said, taking a deep breath as the Twi'lek stopped the recording.

"What do you think?" Arruna asked the Jedi.

"There are only two possible explanations," Juno replied. "Either the senators are both lying, and she sneaked out of the room somehow, or someone's tampered with this recording. It has to be a forgery."

"What will you do next?"

"I guess I should speak to the senator," Juno replied.

"I've booked an appointment for the day after next," Arruna said. Before the Jedi could object, she added: "It's the earliest I could get. It's all bureaucracy on this planet."

"I also need to see the hotel room," Juno said, "and talk to this Senator Crix."

The hotel room had two large windows with glorious ocean views, but no fire escape or visible means of exit other than the door. As far as Juno could tell, the windows could not be opened.

Once she had thoroughly examined the hotel room, Juno rejoined Arruna, who was waiting outside in the corridor. There was nothing of note in the corridor, except a Neimoidian, who seemed slightly too interested in the young women. Like the Duros, Neimoidians were short, with green-blue skin, though their skin had a grey tinge to it. They did not have noses, which was ironic given how nosey this Neimoidian was being. After a few seconds, Juno glared at him, and he quietly scurried away.

Juno went alone to see the senator for Mirial's aide, who confirmed everything that the Twi'lek had told her. She also spoke to several of the witnesses from the bar, who confirmed what she had seen on the holo-recording, including the time and date. Juno understood the implications, if the witnesses were telling the truth, but there were so many of them, and they were such an eclectic bunch - businessmen, salesmen, off-duty embassy staff, humans, Twi'leks, Rodians, Selkath and others, all apparently respectable - that she could find no hint of a connection between them, nor think of any plausible reason for them all to lie.

Although she had not yet spoken to the senators themselves, Juno was starting to reach her wits' end, and decided to ask Master Lok for advice. She got through to him on his communicator on the third attempt, and explained the basic facts of the case.

"All in all," she sighed, "it's a mystery. First I thought someone had tampered with the recording, but unless all the witnesses are lying - which seems unlikely - that can't be right. But then that means the senators are lying. And why would the Mirialans lie for Vao when there's so much evidence against her?"

"Come to that," Lok interjected, "why would two members of the Galactic Senate go to such incredible lengths, ahead of time, to set up an alibi for an apparently spontaneous bar fight?"

Juno shook her head, but in agreement. "Nothing makes sense... unless the senator was in two places at once," she quipped.

"Or unless there were two of her," Lok replied.

Juno laughed, but then realised that the Jedi Master was, as usual, being serious. "What?" she asked, confused. "Like her twin or something? I could ask her assistant, but..."

"Tell me," Lok interrupted, "could our shape-shifting assassin friend have made it from Taris to Manaan in time to be in the hotel bar that night?"

Juno thought for a few seconds, before replying: "Yes! The assault was two days later. He had time," she added excitedly. "But that would mean..."

Juno's words trailed off as she tried to take in the enormity of what the Jedi Master was implying.

"That would mean," he said, finishing the young woman's sentence for her, "that your bar fight and our senator's death are connected somehow."

"How can that be?"

"It is striking that your contact cannot tell you what Senator Vao was doing on Manaan," Lok replied, "and no one can tell us what Senator Plono was doing on Taris. Find out why she's there," he added, "and I feel we will uncover the key to both mysteries."

"I'll try," Juno replied, promising nothing. "I'm meeting the Twi'lek senator the day after tomorrow."

There was a short silence. "You have done well, Juno," Master Lok said. "Even if there is no connection, a changeling would explain your mystery."

Juno was taken aback, but thanked Lok. "What do I do about the shape-shifter if it is him?" she asked.

"If it is him and if he is still on Manaan," Lok replied after a few seconds' thought, "there is no way you can track him. You should proceed with your investigation, and hope it flushes him out. Your only advantage is that he does not know you are looking for him."

Juno thanked Lok again. She had nothing more to say, and was about to end the call, when Lok said: "By the way, I received a call from Taris today, a man named Rylek, from their civil authorities. They took my advice and installed hovercams in Dynamet General. They caught one of the orderlies stealing supplies. He was siphoning off 'ghoul meds and replacing what he took with water. And then he was watering down what he stole and selling it to the Hutts."

"Did they arrest them?"

"The orderly, yes. Apparently there was not enough evidence to make a case against the Hutts."

Juno thought back to Taris and remembered Gurney Slade, the young man with dark hair who guided them round the hospital, recalling the ease with which he had broken into the morgue. "Oh, no," she whispered.

"What will happen to this orderly?" she asked, feeling pity, for reasons that she could by no means explain. Lok, however, remained silent.

"The doctor didn't know then, after all?" she added - "that the drugs he was giving the Duros didn't work?"

"Dr Wenlock? No, it would seem not."

"Then we're back at square one," Juno sighed. "And our only lead's a shape-shifting alien, and he could be anywhere in the galaxy, and he could look like anyone he wants.

"And, in fact, we don't even know he is a 'he'."

"It's not much to go on, is it?" Master Lok agreed. "All the more reason why I must speak to Senator Janus."

"Where are you now?" Juno asked.

"Still on Dantooine," he replied, clearly not pleased to be saying those words. "Master Vandar has asked me to stay for a few days, until the new master arrives. It would seem they are short on instructors since the war."

The sun set over the ocean during Juno and Lok's conversation, setting light to the waves, or so it seemed. As they danced in the dying rays, the red light disappeared with a short, green flash, and the planet was plunged into darkness. As the lights came on in Ahto City, Juno decided to head to the bar where the altercation had taken place, partly to see if she could learn something, but partly also to unwind.

In the holo-recording of the incident, the bar had been fairly crowded. Tonight, however, perhaps as a result of the incident itself, it was deserted. Yet, as soon as she entered the room, Juno recognised a face from the embassy: the familiar face that she had seen being given the tour while she was waiting for the senator's aide earlier that day. He was sitting alone in the corner, drinking by himself, and a half-empty bottle sat on the table beside his glass.

Juno ordered a drink at the bar, a kothtri, and walked over, standing beside the man's table. He was tall man with long, flowing hair and youthful looks, though Juno fancied that she saw a certain sadness behind his eyes. "Do you mind if I join you?" she asked.

The man did not speak, but gestured at the seat opposite. "I'm Juno," she informed him.

The man did not introduce himself, but asked: "Are you here on business?"

"Of sorts," Juno replied. "You?"

"I..." the man began, but then he dried up. After a few seconds, he said: "I've just started in the embassy. You don't work in the embassy, do you?" he added.

"No," Juno replied, smiling. "You don't seem thrilled to be here," she added, "if you'll forgive me for saying."

"It could have been worse," he retorted, smiling unconvincingly. "They wanted me to go to Abregado. 'Abregado?' I said. 'Thanks but no thanks.' Manaan's actually an improvement - but, no, I didn't dream of living on a giant raft when I was growing up."

"And now you're trying to figure out how you ended up here?" Juno asked, glancing at the half-empty bottle.

"Oh, no," the man replied immediately. "I know exactly what I did to end up here."

"What do you mean?" asked Juno, suddenly regretting her earlier off-the-cuff remark.

"I made a mistake," the man replied solemnly, though it may in fact have been the drink talking.

Juno did not know what to say, and so she said nothing. Eventually he continued: "I was shown some evidence against my friend - my best friend - damning evidence - and I did what I had to…" The man's words trailed off again.

"Still, I can't help wondering if I did the right thing," he added, after a long pause.

"Did the evidence not stack up?" Juno asked, attempting to understand what the man was trying to tell her.

"Oh, no," he replied: "it was incontrovertible - straight out of SIS. He had to be stopped. I just can't stop thinking about it."

"It sounds like you did the right thing," Juno replied, still not really understanding the situation. "Try not to dwell on it so much."

"Maybe you're right," the man said, cheering up a little. "So what line of work are you in?" he asked, pouring himself another drink and then thinking to offer one to Juno.

The Jedi declined politely. "I'm looking into the allegations against Senator Vao," she replied, hoping that he would not push her any further on the matter. "How about you? You said you worked in the embassy," she added. "What do you do there?"

"I'm the new ambassador," the man replied, smiling and downing his drink in one.

It was only later, after she left the bar and returned to her hotel room, that Juno realised why the man's face seemed so familiar. It was because it had been all over the news. That sad, unhappy man in the bar had been General Jaso Corona's best friend, Senator Kype Quinn.

* * *

 **CHAPTER 8 The Ranch**

Meanwhile, back on Dantooine, Master Lok Zeren still found himself in the academy, much to his frustration. Once it became clear that Master Vandar was reluctant for him to leave the planet, Lok asked if he could at least assist Master Vrook, who was still investigating the incident at the ancient ruins not far from the enclave. Every time he raised the subject, however, the little master seemed unwilling to discuss it.

And so it was that the Iridonian came to be leading lightsaber training for a handful of initiates.

In the old days, he reflected, the courtyard would have been full of apprentices - but no longer.

Danto Riggs, it turned out, had become quite adept with a lightsaber in a very short space of time. He was busy deflecting bolts from not one but two practice droids.

Holden Gray sat on the roots of the ancient blba tree at the heart of the courtyard, eating a banana. For some reason, he was struggling to adapt to the days on Dantooine, which seemed slightly too long, and he was starting to feel increasingly listless. It probably did not help that all he did, day in, day out, was sit and watch his young charge train.

A few days later Danto, Riggs was summoned to the council chamber. Master Vandar and the Iridonian were already waiting for him, and he immediately wondered if he had done something wrong.

"We have received reports of a disturbance," Master Lok informed the initiate, "a dispute on an estate not far from the enclave. We think you may be able to resolve the situation. Consider it an extension of your training, if you will."

"Why me?" Danto asked, unsure whether to be flattered or not.

"Served under your uncle they did," Master Vandar replied, "some of those involved."

"Uncle Jaso?"

Master Lok nodded. "Calm the situation your presence may," he explained.

"What are they doing on Dantooine?" asked Danto.

"They were promised land in return for their services in the Mandalorian Wars," Lok informed him. "Many of those who retired have come to planets like Dantooine to settle," he added, "and make a fresh start."

"Do we know what the situation is?" Danto asked.

"It sounds like it started out as little more than a drunken fight," Lok replied, "but it seems to have turned into something more. All we know for sure is that your uncle's men are holding a local man's brother hostage."

"Is it normal for initiates to do this sort of thing?" Danto asked.

"Normal, no," Lok replied, "but it is not unheard of. There are no authorities on the planet to speak of. Settlers look to us for assistance."

"We are not a cloistered order," added Master Vandar, by way of valediction.

The young man considered himself dismissed and left the chamber. He found Holden waiting for him in the antechamber, and told him the news. Initiates typically went on training exercises with other initiates, but, because there were so few around, Danto had been permitted to take his friend with him instead. The Mandalorian called out triumphantly and hurried on ahead to their room, bounding up the stairs three steps at a time, so excited was he by the prospect of action at last.

Fifteen minutes later, Holden and Danto set out from the enclave on speeders. Unlike Lok and Juno, who had travelled south to meet the chancellor, they headed north, over green, sweeping plains interrupted only by an occasional copse or rill. They soon came to a ridge, from which they could see the so-called estate, although in truth it was little more than a frontier-style ranch with a handful of newish metal buildings.

Between the ridge and the ranch stood a stand of blba trees and a small stream. They could see a large group of armed men hiding in the trees, facing the buildings. They took the speeders to the bottom of the ridge and walked the remaining distance on foot, approaching with caution. As they neared the group of men, one of them turned round, a bony, bearded, man, and trained his blaster on them. "Who's there?" he called out.

Instinctively, Holden raised his rifle, but Danto quickly shouted: "We're from the enclave."

The man lowered his gun. "About time," he shouted back. "I'm Rickard Lusoff - I'm the one who called you guys. It's my brother they've got."

"What's this about?" asked the young initiate, crouching as he made his way towards the group.

"That's our land," snarled another member of the group. "What are you going to do about it?" and as he spoke the others jeered. They were a motley-looking bunch, clearly all veterans of many a battle.

"You're alright this far out," another added, amused that the young man was crouching behind a tree.

Danto drew himself up to his full height and glanced at the farmers. "Let me speak to them," he said, though he was not really asking for permission.

"What's to speak about?" asked Lusoff. "Tell them to let my brother go and get off our land."

"Maybe that's what he wants to say," Holden growled at the man, shutting him up. Holden and Danto set off on foot towards the buildings. When they were near enough, Danto called out: "Don't shoot. We want to talk!"

"You from the academy?" a gruff voice came back from somewhere inside the buildings.

"Yes."

There was a short silence. "Alright, then," the voice finally replied.

There were six men inside the first building, which appeared to be a barn of some kind. Five were standing, watching the trees, and one was kneeling on the floor, hands tied behind his back. He was gagged, and was evidently Rickard Lusoff's brother.

"You okay?" Holden asked, poking him with the business end of his blaster rifle, apparently out of concern, though it was unclear if the man understood this.

"I'm Danto Riggs," Danto informed the veterans - four humans and a Twi'lek. They were heavily armed, with all manner of blaster rifles, pistols and batons at their disposal.

"You're a Jedi knight?" one of them asked suspiciously.

"I'm from the enclave," the young man replied, neatly ducking the question. Holden smiled to himself. "Will you tell me what's going on here?"

"This Hutt-spawn and his friends attacked us," another of the veterans replied. "They came out of nowhere when we were fixing the fences."

"They say you're on their land," growled Holden.

"This is _our_ land," the first veteran insisted. "The general gave it us."

Lusoff's brother tried to speak through the gag, but only muffled grunts came out. "Can I untie him?" Danto asked the men.

"You leave him be," a third settler warned Danto, but as he spoke he walked across the room and loosened the scarf that the men had used to gag the hostage, so that he could speak.

"General Cascara promised _us_ this land," Lusoff's brother declared. "This is the best land, down by the river."

"You're on a planet full of plains and rivers," Holden said. "There's literally nothing else on this drukkin' rock. Just go somewhere else," he added, though it was unclear which side he was speaking to.

"Did you say 'Riggs's?" asked another of the veterans, one of the two who had not spoken until that moment. He had a deep, gruff voice, and looked every inch the typical soldier. He was older than the others, with grey hair and a crooked gait, and it was quickly apparent that the others respected his opinion. "As in Admiral Riggs?"

"He's my uncle," Danto replied.

Almost at once, the atmosphere in the room changed, and the men, or at least the five of them with guns, seemed more at ease.

"Then what are you doing taking their side?" asked the first veteran, though his tone was more relaxed - respectful even.

"I'm not here to…" Danto began to say, but the old man immediately interrupted him.

"Hey, I know about you, kid," he said. "You're the general's nephew too, ain't you?"

Danto nodded. "Oh, great," muttered Lusoff's brother, facetiously, earning a rifle butt to the back of his head for his trouble.

"You're General Corona's nephew?" asked the first veteran again. "He's the one who promised us this land in the first place."

They stood in silence for a few seconds. "Well," the old man said, taking a step towards Danto, "what are you planning to do, kid?"

Danto and Holden exchanged glances. Suddenly, the fifth man, a Twi-lek who was standing by the open window, shouted, "They're on the move, Sarge!"

The other colonists ran back to the windows and pressed themselves against the wall. "What do we do, boss?" one of them shouted.

"Play it like Serroco," the old man barked, finally revealing himself to be their leader. "You with us, kid?" he asked. He did not ask Holden the same question as the Mandalorian was already standing by the door with his blaster rifle trained on the ground in front of the building that passed for a yard.

"You were at Serroco?" shouted the hostage. "We was at Serroco."

"Shut it," snarled one of the veterans.

"Wait," Danto protested, finally finding his voice. "It's not too late to fix this. No one's been hurt yet."

"We was in Camp Three," Lusoff's brother continued, clearly agreeing with the young man. "Where was you?" And then, receiving no reply, he suggested: "Let me go. I'll call them off."

"No way in hell," the first veteran informed him.

"Wait, he's right," said Danto. "If they let you go," he added, addressing the hostage directly, "do you promise you'll make your friends leave, and come and join us for talks in the enclave?"

"Yes!" the man pleaded.

"What do you say, Sergeant?" Danto asked the old man at the window. "Think about it. You already have the land. You don't need him."

The sergeant thought for a moment. The other men looked to him expectantly. "Alright, kid," he said finally. "If that's what you think's best. Untie him."

The man wasted no time once his hands were untied, scurrying to the door. "I'm watching you," the Mandalorian warned him as he passed. "No tricks."

The man nodded and ran out of the building, waving his arms. He had only gone a few steps when a volley of blaster fire from the trees in the distance stopped him in his tracks. "He's dead," one of the veterans whispered.

"Drukkin' hell," the sergeant said. "We're for it now."

"Lusoff!" shouted Danto. "We can still work this out!" Rickard Lusoff's reply, however, came in the form of a blaster bolt.

Danto made several more efforts to pacify the attackers, including walking slowly towards them, his lightsaber in front him, but it soon became clear that their assailants were no longer made any distinction between him and his uncle's veterans.

"You've got the hang of that, then," the Mandalorian said, as Danto stepped backwards into the barn, deflecting blaster bolts as he went.

"Careful, Holden," his friend quipped. "You sound almost impressed."

Their assailants spread out, flanking the building. It was looking increasingly bleak for the veterans and their new allies, outgunned and outnumbered as they were, as their attackers started to pin them down. After a few minutes, during which they exchanged fire to no avail, one of the veterans, the Twi'lek, shouted: "Cover me," in Huttese, and made a break for one of the outbuildings.

Holden unleashed a torrent of blaster fire on the blba trees in the distance, spraying all around them, but one of the men got off a shot that hit the Twi'lek in the thigh. His momentum carried him almost into the outbuilding, and he lay in the yard just outside the doorway, writhing in pain, unable to crawl to safety.

In the distance, one of the men, Rickard Lusoff himself, started to move position, trying to get a shot at the fallen man. The sergeant and the others fired, still to no avail.

Without warning, Danto sprinted out of the building towards the Twi'lek, before Holden could stop him, and tried to drag him to safety. As he did so, some of the attackers sprang up out of the long grass and opened fire. Danto held his arms out, as if to shield himself, and three of the men were sent flying through the air, even though they were dozens of feet away. In the time they were in the air, Holden shot two with his rifle, while the sergeant and one of his friends both hit the third. Seeing their friends fall, Lusoff and the other men retreated towards the ridge.

Holden ran into the yard. Danto checked that the Twi'lek was all right, relatively speaking, and then went and kneeled over the body of the dead hostage, Lusoff's brother. "Don't feel bad for him," the sergeant said, standing beside him. "He did work for one of the men who murdered your uncle, after all."

"This man didn't murder my uncle," Danto retorted, pitying the settler.

"True, but you can tell a lot about a man from the company he keeps. And you, kid, are good people. I'm Harris," the sergeant said, "and this lot are Ryan, Casey, Tulu and Gennan."

The veterans helped the Twi'lek to his feet. "I should report back to the enclave," Danto said, smiling politely, as soon as he saw that the man could walk.

"I guess you'll be in trouble, huh?" the old man said. "Let me know if we can do anything to help."

"I'll be fine," Danto replied, though he was far from certain of this. "Will you be okay?"

"They won't be back," the old man predicted confidently.

When Danto and Holden got back to the enclave, on their speeders, word had already spread of the exploits. Master Lok was waiting for them in the courtyard, and informed them that he wanted a word. They followed him to the antechamber, where the Mandalorian had spent so much time already, and Danto prepared himself for the worst.

"I heard about what happened on the estate," Lok said. "A Sergeant Harris called and told us what happened. He and his men sound quite taken with you. You were meant to settle the dispute peacefully..."

Holden went to interrupt, but before he could do so Lok added: "I do understand that's not always possible, though. You did well."

* * *

 **CHAPTER 9 The Vao Trial**

Juno Celerier and Arruna Tak'sa, the Twi'lek senator's aide, were sitting on a bench outside the main entrance to Ahto City's central prison. They had been waiting for almost an hour for the Selkath to follow the relevant processes and procedures and issue the necessary permits. The main issue, it seemed, was that it was Arruna who was listed as the senator's arbiter, and yet it was Juno who wished to interview the senator, a concept that the Selkath authorities appeared unable to get their dappled heads around. One official in particular kept returning to the bench to check that Juno still wanted to talk to the senator, despite not being her arbiter, and his lobes quivered more and more, with increasing bewilderment, every time he reappeared.

While she was waiting, Juno noticed a short Neimoidian. He looked a lot like the nosey alien that she and Arruna had seen in the corridor outside the senator's hotel room, but the Jedi could not be sure that it was the same Neimoidian.

After an hour and a half, Juno was finally permitted to enter the prison, on condition that she was accompanied at all times by the young Twi'lek and the Selkath warden.

The prison was relatively basic compared with other buildings in Ahto City, perhaps in part because there was no natural light once the women were inside, whereas the rest of the city was so bright and airy during the day. The senator for Ryloth was sitting in a cell, little more than a large, locked cage with a stasis field, and had clearly been crying. She smiled when she saw her aide, rose to her feet and stood as close to the stasis field as she dared. "Arruna!" she cried, the relief in her voice palpable.

Arruna introduced the Jedi, and the women exchanged pleasantries. As soon as Juno started to ask about the assault in the bar, however, the senator interrupted her. "It wasn't me, Jedi. You have to believe me. You two are my only hope."

Juno reassured the senator that she had seen the recording of her entering the hotel room and spoken to the witnesses who placed her in the room at the time of the incident. "And I'm satisfied there's no other way out of the room," she added. She then told the senator about her investigation into Senator Plono's death, the shape-shifting aliens on Taris, and her theory about one of them being on Manaan.

"You're saying a Clawdite assassin pretended to be me to start a bar fight?" the senator asked incredulously, unsure whether she should be relieved or not.

"I'm satisfied the recording of the attack is genuine," Juno replied in a roundabout way. "If you weren't in the bar, the only explanation left is that someone else was pretending to be you."

The Twi'lek senator scratched her head, unable to fault the Jedi's logic. "The fish will never buy that, though," she replied, remarkably undiplomatic language for a senator. Juno glanced at the Selkath warden, who was standing a discreet distance from the cell. "And why would anyone want to set me up?" she asked.

"Were you and Senator Plono friends?" Juno asked. "Allies?"

"No," Senator Vao replied. "I hardly knew him."

"Can you think of any connection between you?"

"None," the Twi'lek replied, baffled, "other than we were senators. We had little in common politically - Plono was part of that group that gave Czerka contracts after the war."

"What are Czerka contracts?" asked Juno.

"Czerka Corporation," the senator's aide replied. "Plono and his friends awarded them the contracts for the rebuilding."

"And you were opposed to this?" Juno asked the senator, still trying to find a connection between her and the dead Duro.

"Not really," the senator replied. "There were plenty who were - who said Czerka couldn't be trusted - Corona, Quinn, Organa, Argent..."

"Not you, though?"

"I could see both sides," replied Senator Vao, the typical politician. "I got their concerns about Czerka, but we needed to rebuild. I understood why Plono in particular was pushing for it. I didn't even attend that vote."

"So you weren't on either side?"

"That's what I'm telling you."

"Tell me, Senator," Juno said, abandoning her first line of enquiry, "what were you doing on Manaan?"

"I was here to meet Senator Crix," the Twi'lek replied. "I thought you knew that."

"Yes, but why?"

Once again, this line of questioning led to silence. The senator glanced at her aide, and Arruna suddenly pleaded: "Please, Senator. If this Jedi is to help you, you must tell her everything."

Eventually, the senator nodded. "Very well," she replied. "Crix is an old friend of mine... an old ally. I wanted to sound him out about something - something private - which is why we came to Manaan."

"You must tell me what it was," Juno persisted.

"Fine. It doesn't matter now anyway. It's common knowledge Chancellor Grenna isn't standing again..."

Senator Vao left the thought unfinished, as if too scared to say the words out loud, and so Juno had to ask: "You're thinking of running for chancellor?"

The Twi'lek nodded. "Or I was," she replied, "till this happened. I wanted to know if Crix thought I had enough support."

"And did he?"

"Yes," replied the senator bitterly. "He agreed to manage my campaign. But this has obviously put an end to any chance I had."

Juno had a sudden flash of inspiration. "Senator Plono was talked about as a future chancellor, wasn't he?"

The Twi'leks exchanged glances, immediately understanding what the Jedi was suggesting. "Yes," Vao replied. "Are you saying somebody's clearing a path - taking out the competition?"

"Do you know if Plono was planning to stand too?" Juno rejoined.

"I hadn't heard anything," Senator Vao replied, "but I'd be surprised. Janus is standing. I can't imagine Plono running against _him_ \- it would split their vote in two."

"Well, he certainly won't be running against him now."

"You know who else was standing?" the senator's aide said, less ready than her employer to dismiss the idea: "Jaso Corona."

Juno turned and faced the young Twi'lek, open-mouthed. For the first time, she could see a link between the investigations. Senator Vao, however, was quick to pour cold water on the idea. "But Corona was murdered by Quinn and his own faction. If one of them hoped to be chancellor... Well, it's never going to happen now."

"Maybe," Juno replied, "but why did they do it?" Recalling her own brief conversation with Senator Quinn, she added: "Maybe someone was pulling their strings.

"I should call Master Lok," she added excitedly.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" the senator asked impatiently. "This doesn't help me at all - it's useless, pure speculation, nothing more."

At that moment, however, a group of Selkath entered the room. The warden stood to attention, and Juno asked: "What's the meaning of this?"

"We have come to collect the prisoner," one of the Selkath rasped officiously, "for trial."

"What?" shouted the senator's aide. "The trial isn't till tomorrow."

"You are also required, Arbiter," the Selkath rasped in reply, ignoring the Twi'lek's objections. "You must go to the court immediately."

Juno and Arruna's further protestations were also ignored. They hurried to Ahto City's high court, which was near the central prison. "Don't worry," the senator's aide whispered to the Jedi as they entered the building: "I'll ask for an adjournment."

The courtroom where Senator Vao was to be tried was a large chamber. Again there was no natural light, but the walls were panelled from floor to ceiling with artificial lights, and so the room was much brighter than the prison from which they had just come. In the middle of the chamber were five stalls, booths for the Selkath magistrates, though they were empty when the young women first entered the room.

One of the Selkath officials directed Arruna to a seat in front of the booths. Juno went to sit next to her, but was politely asked to sit in the public gallery behind the young Twi'lek. Looking round, Juno recognised a number of the witnesses from the bar, including those whom she had spoken to during the course of her investigation, as well as the Mirialan senator and his aide. On the far side of the room there sat an ugly, reptilian alien, a Kaleesh male. His head and arms were heavily bandaged, and Juno recognised him as the victim from the holo-recording of the bar. "The Selkath clearly don't believe in the possibility of witnesses conferring," Juno said to Arruna, leaning forward and whispering in her ear.

Over the course of the next twenty minutes the public gallery began to fill, as curious tourists and Selkath alike came to watch the trial of a Republic senator. Finally Senator Vao was led in, by the same Selkath officials who had come to collect her from the jail, and seated next to her aide. Shortly afterwards, another Selkath entered the courtroom, clearly the prosecutor, and then everyone rose to their feet as the five judges came in.

The Selkath judge sitting in the middle of the five magistrates did most of the talking. He introduced himself as Chief Justice Shelkar, and briefly explained the process that they would follow. After he had been speaking for a few minutes, and it became apparent that the trial was underway, Senator Vao's aide rose to her feet and stood expectantly.

"Yes, Arbiter?" Shelkar asked, in a voice even raspier than the other Selkath's.

"I'd like to seek an adjournment," the young Twi'lek said, loudly and clearly.

The five judges conferred briefly, and then refused the request without even hearing from the prosecutor. "The time for seeking adjournments has passed," Shelkar informed Arruna, to her great consternation.

This exchange set the tone for the trial. The prosecutor called a number of witnesses - the victim, the barman, a number of businessmen - until the judges conferred again and advised the prosecutor that it was not necessary to call the remaining witnesses.

Arruna Tak'sa then, as the senator's arbiter, called Senator Crix and his aide to give evidence, and they both swore on oath that Senator Vao had been in her hotel room at the time of the incident. Arruna admitted into evidence the holo-recording that showed the senator coming and going from the room. "This recording does not show the accused at the time of the attack," another of the magistrates informed the court, a heavily lobed Selkath named Duula. "She must have left the room another way."

"But there is no other way in or out," Arruna protested.

"Irrelevant," Duula replied.

Senator Vao then gave evidence herself, and denied any wrongdoing. It quickly became clear that the public gallery was as unfavourably minded to the senator as the judges were: first the Selkath and then the tourists started to mutter and sneer after her every denial.

Juno leaned forward again and whispered to Arruna: "You're losing them. You have to bring up the shape-shifters..."

"They'll never go for it," Arruna replied.

"What have you got to lose?"

Arruna began down that line, asking Senator Vao if it was possible that someone resembling her had been in the bar that night, but the gallery now erupted into laughter, and even Chief Justice Shelkar was unable to keep a straight face. The Selkath did not take long to confer, once the evidence had been heard, and Shelkar rose to his feet and informed the room: "This court finds Senator Vao guilty. In accordance with Selkath law, the proscribed punishment for assault is exile. Remove the guilty party from the courtroom... and the planet."

A murmur ran around the gallery as he announced their verdict. Out of the corner of her eye, Juno saw the courtroom door open, as soon as the Selkath judge said the word "guilty". She turned round in time to see a short Neimoidian hurrying out of the building.

By the time Juno reached the door and stood on the steps, staring out across the square and shielding her eyes from the sun, which was both beating down on her and bouncing off the waves into her face, the Neimoidian was already crossing a bridge on the far side of the square. "Stop," she yelled, pointing straight at him. The Neimoidian turned round, saw the young woman walking towards him, hesitated for a second, and then ran, fleeing towards the spaceport. Juno gave chase, sprinting across the square, weaving in and out of the startled Selkath in her path. She ran over the arched bridge; as she was cresting it, she saw the Neimoidian on the other side. He had stopped running and turned to face her; to her horror, she saw a blaster pistol in his hands. This stopped Juno in her tracks. She went to reach for her lightsaber, but remembered that it had been taken off her when she arrived on the planet. Just as she did so, the Neimoidian fired. Her training kicked in and she rolled out of the way of the blaster bolt, which missed her ear by a matter of inches before vanishing into the ether.

The blaster fire immediately attracted the attention of the Ahto City authorities. Selkath in brown suits and shiny droids the colour of the waves themselves came running from every direction. Seeing the droids, which were carrying blaster rifles, the Neimoidian turned tail and disappeared into a building behind him. The sign on the door said "Emporium", though in truth it was little more than a junk shop. The droids and the Selkath pursued him inside, and Juno started to follow them.

At that moment, Arruna Tak'sa caught up with the Jedi. "Was that the changeling?" she asked, pausing for breath.

"I think so," Juno replied. As she spoke, however, they heard the sound of blaster fire from the emporium. "They mustn't kill him," she shouted, setting off towards the shop.

The young Twi'lek followed. As she did so, a number of customers came running out of the door, clearly terrified. Shortly afterwards, a large Weequay emerged, walking calmly away from the building past the Selkath and droids. "That's him," Juno whispered to Arruna. "Let's go," she added, setting off on foot after the Weequay but taking care not to alert the authorities. The Weequay turned the corner, and as he did so he glanced over his shoulder, saw the Jedi and set off again.

Juno and Arruna chased him all the way through Ahto City to the spaceport. By the time Juno entered the building, the Weequay had already passed through security. Juno stopped to collect her lightsaber from the official at the entrance, tapping the counter impatiently as the Selkath ensured that the necessary forms had been completed. When she finally caught up with Arruna, the Twi'lek informed her: "He boarded an interceptor. Come on, we can still catch him."

"What do you mean?" Juno asked frantically, watching a small patrol-and-attack craft taking off from a dock beyond the airlock. "It's over. We lost him."

"No! We'll take the senator's ship," Arruna shouted over her shoulder, running towards another airlock. "Come on," she repeated, screaming at the Jedi.

Juno followed and saw a Corellian corvette in the dock beyond the airlock. The women boarded and prepared to take off. "What about the senator?" Juno asked, suddenly remembering that Senator Vao had to leave Manaan immediately.

"She won't mind," Arruna replied, sitting in the cockpit. "Take the controls," she added, barking instructions at the Jedi. "It takes two people to fly this thing."

"I have to call Master Lok before we make the jump to hyperspace," Juno protested.

"No time," Arruna shouted, already starting to take off.

* * *

 **CHAPTER 10 Senator Janus**

Master Vandar finally gave Master Lok his blessing to leave Dantooine and continue his investigation into Senator's Plono's death two days after the incident at the ranch. Lok did not say where he was going next, and Vandar did not ask, an arrangement that suited them both, since it was obvious that Lok still wanted to interview Senator Janus in spite of the chancellor's objections.

Master Vandar did have one condition, however. "Danto Riggs," Vandar insisted, "your padawan should be."

Unsurprisingly enough, Lok was not taken by this idea. He pointed out that it was normal for initiates to train for weeks, if not months, before being accepted into the Order as apprentices. Vandar, on the other hand, pointed out that these were not normal times, and that the young man had passed his trials. Lok continued to resist, until it was made clear that, if he felt so strongly about the matter, he would have to stay on Dantooine until the young man's training was complete - at which point the Iridonian quickly acquiesced. Danto was summoned to the chamber and told the good news. He was thrilled, and thanked both masters profusely.

The padawan and his new master left the planet immediately and travelled to Dantooine Station, where they boarded a shuttle to the capital. Holden Gray went with them, of course, regardless of the Iridonian's wishes.

"How's this senator supposed to help us?" Danto asked as they travelled through hyperspace. "My uncle never trusted him," he added pointedly.

"Your uncle may yet be proved right," his master replied.

"So why bother talking to him?" the padawan asked.

"First and foremost," Lok replied, "because it is in his power to tell us what Plono was doing on Taris. Plono and Janus were allies - and maybe even friends.

"And then, perhaps," he continued, "he can tell us why the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Senate is too afraid to return to the capital, even in its utmost hour of need. I sense Senator Janus's hand in it, but..."

Master Lok's words trailed off as he realised that he had said too much. "What do you mean, Master?" Danto asked. "Do you know where the chancellor is?"

"Well, he is obviously not on Coruscant," Lok replied, deflecting the question, "or he would be attending sessions of the Senate."

Danto let the matter be, seemingly assuaged. "If I get the chance," he enquired instead, "can I ask Janus about my uncle?"

"To what end?"

"He was in the chamber that day. They say he saw the whole thing."

"Who told you that?" the Iridonian asked. "Never mind. If I were you, I would not raise the subject unless Janus does.

"And, Danto," Lok added sternly, "don't mention that I'm investigating Senator Plono's death either."

"Why not?" Danto asked, confused.

At that moment, they felt the shuttle come out of hyperspace, and the captain appeared at the door of their cabin. "We've arrived," he informed them.

"I'll try Juno again," Lok said, tapping away on his communicator, without success.

"Still no answer?"

The Iridonian shook his head. "Perhaps she's in hyperspace herself," he suggested.

"I hope she's okay," Danto said.

The pair rose to their feet. They found the Mandalorian pacing up and down by the airlock, eager to set foot on the planet, and waited for the shuttle to dock at Galactic City Spaceport.

Once they had landed, they made, all three, for the Senate district, and the Republic Plaza within it. Like Taris, Coruscant was an ecumenopolis - a single, boundless city covering the entire face of the planet. Danto had grown up on Coruscant, and Holden and Lok were regular visitors, and so they passed without wonder through the elegant, slender towers, a shimmering sea of pink and grey, and approached the Senate building, the great rotunda at the heart of the district.

In the plaza outside the Senate Tower, they encountered a demonstration, hundreds of people, soldiers and other military types, protesting something. "What's all this about?" Danto asked in dismay, seeing their way blocked, but his friend and his master both shrugged their shoulders.

One of the protesters, meanwhile, appeared to notice the Jedi and the Mandalorian, turned to his friends and pointed straight at the three of them. As dozens of pairs of eyes turned their way, Holden growled: "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"That's him," one of the demonstrators shouted, and a murmur ran round the crowd.

"We definitely should be going," Master Lok said to his companions, and the Mandalorian nodded, but even as Lok spoke the demonstrators surged forwards, engulfing them.

"You're Danto Riggs, aren't you?" one of them asked, a young, square-jawed, blond-haired Alderaanian by the name of Trask Ulgo.

"You're the general's kid," said another loudly, a Rodian, in his own language.

Danto began to back away, but found himself hemmed in on all sides. Suddenly, another protester, an older, Corellian man, stepped forward and shouted: "Hey, give the kid some space. You're crushing him."

"Thanks," Danto said.

"You're welcome," the Corellian replied. "I'm Tash," he added, shaking the young man's hand. "It's an honour to meet you."

"What's this all about?" Danto asked, casting an eye over the protest.

"Me and some of the boys thought we'd come down here," Tash replied. "Wanted to remind them we haven't forgotten about what they did to your uncle. Wanted to show them it isn't okay, not doing anything about it," he added.

"We want justice," one of the men in the crowd yelled, and the protesters cheered.

"Death to Quinn," shouted another, and the crowd started to chant the words, over and over.

"Hey, kid," Tash said, "anything you need, you just let us know. If you want to go after the scum what did this, we've got your back," he added, and the other protesters nodded in agreement.

Danto thanked them politely, and Tash made sure that he and his friends had safe passage through the crowd to the Senate Tower. As Danto was about to enter the building, Tash shouted: "Hey, you're alright, kid. Pity not all Riggses is like you!"

"What do you mean?" Danto asked.

"Your uncle the admiral," the Corellian replied, and the others around him booed. "How he could do a deal with the old man's killers, I'll never know."

"Shame," another protester bellowed.

"What do you mean?" repeated Danto.

"Didn't you hear?" Tash asked. "Your uncle the admiral agreed Quinn and the others could leave Coruscant, when he should be hunting them down and making them pay for what they did to your uncle."

Danto was surprised by the strength of feeling against his uncle, Admiral Riggs, who had been, after all, a close ally of General Corona. Many of the protesters had even served under him during the Mandalorian Wars. But Holden and Lok finally managed to drag the padawan away from the demonstration and into the Senate building, and the Mandalorian breathed a sigh of relief once they were safely inside.

"That could have been dangerous," Lok said.

"Are you kidding?" Danto asked. "Those were Uncle Jaso's men. We couldn't have been any safer."

"There are few things less predictable than an angry crowd," Lok retorted, and Holden nodded.

The three men were required to surrender their weapons as soon as they entered the building, which they did without a fuss. They made their way across the inner courtyard to the stairs. The Iridonian seemed to know where he was going, and the other two followed him. When they came to Senator Janus's suite, one of the senator's aides, sitting at a desk in the first office that they came to, asked them for their names.

"I'm sorry," she said, casting her eyes down a list of names on a datapad in front of her. "You don't seem to have an appointment."

"You are mistaken," the Jedi Master informed her politely but firmly. "We have an appointment. We may see the senator now," he added, waving his hand.

"I'm sorry," the aide repeated. "You have an appointment. You may see the senator now."

Lok thanked the senator's aide and entered the inner office without further ado. "That's a neat trick," Holden whispered under his breath. "Can you do that yet?" he asked his friend, who smiled.

Senator Zed Janus was sitting at a desk of his own in the inner office. He was a slight man, and looked older than his years, with greying hair and a furrowed forehead. Standing behind him was a taller, younger man with a stern expression on his face. He was wearing a uniform, though not a uniform that Danto recognised.

"Welcome," Senator Janus said, looking up from his desk. "I've been expecting you, Master Jedi."

Lok was slightly taken aback by this, and did not know what to say. Danto was about to speak when Senator Janus continued: "And I know who you are, Danto, of course. Please accept my condolences. I shan't pretend we always saw eye to eye, but there is no denying that what happened was a tragedy - for the whole Republic. It will be a source of eternal regret for me that we weren't able to stop what happened. You must have questions," he added, apparently inviting them.

Although the senator was clearly at pains to appear accommodating, Danto did not immediately warm to the man. He wasted no time, however, and asked: "What do you know about his death? They say you were there."

"I was," the senator confessed. "They struck in the chamber itself, just as the session was about to start. I can't tell you anything you won't have seen for yourself," he added, "but the look on your uncle's face will..."

"Do you know why they did it?" Danto interrupted.

"They claim to have evidence the general was planning to overthrow the Republic," replied the senator. "From what I saw..."

"You saw this evidence?" Danto asked, interrupting the senator again.

"Only afterwards," Janus quickly clarified. "Agent Decker informed me of it shortly after the general's death."

The uniformed man standing behind the senator nodded, as if to confirm his story.

"His _murder_ , you mean," Danto said, correcting the senator, who smiled politely and did not attempt to equivocate.

Although Danto appreciated the senator taking time to answer his questions, it occurred to him that he had never met such an oleaginous man in his life. "What evidence was there?" he asked. "All they said was that he was planning a coup with the Exchange."

"Did I say 'evidence'?" the senator asked. "I meant 'allegations'," Janus continued, backtracking. "I, of course, have no idea if they are true."

"Did you not think to investigate the allegations?" Master Lok chimed in.

"Of course," the senator replied. "I commissioned an enquiry immediately. I instructed Agent Decker to put the SIS on it."

"The Strategic Information Service?" Lok asked, surprised. "Since when do they do field work?"

"They may be stretched since the war," replied Janus, without answering the question, "but I told them to make this their number one priority, Danto."

"This?" asked Lok casually. "Not the investigation into Senator Plono's death?"

"Both," replied Janus, without any trace of irony. "Of course I want to find out what happened to my friend, though there's no suspicion of foul play at this stage.

"Tell me, Master Jedi," the senator added: "I understand why this young man is here, but what brings _you_ to my door?"

"My padawan wanted to meet you," replied Lok, being disingenuous himself now. "We hoped you could shed some light on his uncle's death," he continued, "as well as other... matters," he added, as casually as he could, not wishing to declare his hand.

"Oh, what else are you investigating?" the senator asked casually, though it was clear that the Jedi had piqued his interest.

Master Lok could think of no way of deflecting the question, and so he replied: "When Senator Corona died, I did start to wonder about Senator Plono's death. You say there's no reason to suspect foul play, but it does seem quite a coincidence, two senators dying in such quick succession - and in such unusual ways."

"You're investigating my friend's death?" the senator persisted.

"I was wondering what Senator Plono was doing on Taris before he died," Lok said, well aware that this answer would be taken as confirmation of the senator's suspicions.

"Naturally," the senator replied in an instant. "You only had to ask," he added triumphantly. "My friend was meeting Castor Seario of Czerka Corporation. You'll be aware of the damage Duros sustained during the war," he continued. "Senator Plono went to Taris to award a contract to Czerka."

"He was meeting a Czerka representative?" Lok asked, puzzled.

"Not just a representative," retorted Janus. "The president's son."

"You're sure about that?"

"I should be," the senator replied. "I set up the meeting myself. I know there are those who disapprove of Czerka's methods..."

"Like my uncle," Danto said, interrupting the senator.

"Indeed," Janus replied, "and his friends," he added, twisting a metaphorical knife as he spoke: "Kype Quinn, Pavel Cascara..."

"Yeah, about them," Danto interjected. "I understand you were behind the decision to send them away from the capital, Senator," he added accusingly. "To send them somewhere safe."

Senator Janus glanced at the padawan pensively. "I do realise my actions must seem indefensible to you," he replied eventually, to everyone's surprise. "All I can say in my defence is that, as a member of the Galactic Senate, my main concern was the safety and security of the Republic. You've seen for yourself, no doubt, how high tensions are running, even now. Add into the mix your uncle the admiral and his fleet - I had to diffuse the situation somehow. What was the alternative? Civil war!"

"You could just have arrested his murderers," said Danto.

"I considered it," the senator replied carefully. "But they're not without their supporters themselves. If we take them at their word, they prevented a coup. I realise," he continued, speaking over Danto as he tried to interrupt, "that you do not take them at their word, and I understand and respect that. But there are those on Coruscant, not to mention in the Senate, who consider these men saviours..."

"Liberators," the man behind the desk said, speaking for the first time. Agent Finn Decker had been an officer in the Strategic Information Service, or SIS, for ten years, and in that time he had become Senator Janus's right-hand man. Originally from Naboo, he still spoke with a slight accent. "That's what they're calling them," he added, as if to explain that he did not necessarily share that view.

"So you see," Janus continued, "it was important not to do anything hasty. If the enquiry finds that the accusations against your uncle were baseless..."

"Which it will," Danto predicted, finally managing to interrupt.

The senator nodded. "Quite possibly. And if so," he continued, "then we shall act - when it is safe and secure to do so. Once passions have cooled."

"I understand," said Master Lok.

Senator Janus nodded and smiled. It seemed to be time for the Jedi to leave. They turned and walked towards the door, but as they were going the senator called out: "I know I'm in no position to seek a favour, young man, but I wonder if you would do the Republic a service."

"Me?" Danto asked, surprised.

"Indeed," the senator replied. "You seem to have a way with your uncle's soldiers," he added. "They look up to you."

"You saw that?" Holden asked suspiciously, glancing out of the senator's window at the plaza below.

"We see everything," said the SIS agent ominously.

"What do you want me to do?" Danto asked the senator warily.

"Those men are meant to be on the Endar Spire," the senator informed him. "The Endar Spire is meant to be on its way to Onderon. If it fails to join the Republic fleet, there may be serious ramifications," he added, glancing at Lok.

"You want me to get them to go to Onderon?" Danto asked.

"Almost," the senator replied. "I want you to go to Onderon with them."

"We are in the middle of an important investigation," Lok interjected. "What is happening on Onderon?" he added, recalling one of his fellow masters mentioning a situation on the planet.

"A rebel fleet is blockading the planet," the senator replied vaguely. "I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important, Danto," he added. "But this crisis threatens the very stability of the Republic itself. We need every ship and every man at our disposal there - every Jedi, too - which is why it's so critical that those men down there return to the Endar Spire. Will you do this service for the Republic, Danto Riggs?"

The young padawan nodded his head immediately. "Yes," he replied.

The Iridonian was about to ask another question, when the senator's aide opened the door to usher the guests out. "Agent Decker will go with you to Onderon. He'll fill you in en route," the senator said. It was almost as if the senator did not want to say more about the crisis himself.

"I'll meet you on the Endar Spire," the SIS officer informed Lok as they were leaving the room. "I'll answer any questions you have at that time," he promised, disappearing down the corridor as he spoke.

The three men left the senator's suite and headed back downstairs towards the plaza. "I need a bath," Holden complained, no fan of politicians.

"He certainly seemed keen to help us," the Jedi master noted, though it was unclear whether he disagreed with the Mandalorian's sentiment or not.

"At least he's promised an enquiry into Uncle Jaso's murder," said Danto.

"And when will we see the results of that?" asked Holden. "He's stalling - typical drukking politician," he added.

In his office, meanwhile, Senator Janus uncovered the holo-communicator that had been active throughout the meeting. A shadowy holographic figure in a cloak appeared. "Did you get all that?" the senator asked.

"I did," the figure replied. "You're taking a risk, Janus, bringing that boy together with his uncle's men. What if he abandons our cause, joins the rebels, and takes them over?"

"He has no power," Janus replied, dismissing the man's fears. "The rest of the fleet is under the control of Admiral Brevet. Neither he nor Captain Rigel served under Corona."

"Why do we need him at all?" the figure asked.

"He is our talisman," the senator replied. "Without him, the crew of the Spire will go over to the rebels. It will be good for them, to have Corona's nephew on board the ship. It will remind them who they serve. And Corona's men will be split right down the middle.

"Divide and conquer?" the figure replied. "Corona's tactics on Corona's own men. Clever."

"Besides," Janus concluded, "the boy is apprenticed to that sanctimonious Iridonian. I don't see _him_ turning on the Republic."

"No," rasped the figure. "But what if they do?"

"Then that's where Agent Decker comes in," replied Janus gravely. "And we both know where his loyalties lie."

CHAPTER 11 The Endar Spire

Juno Celerier and Arruna Tak'sa, the Twi'lek senator's young aide, came out of hyperspace over the planet of Tatooine. The changeling assassin's spaceship, a small, Firespray-class interceptor, a ship designed to do exactly what the name suggested, was just out of range, speeding towards the planet.

"What weapon systems does this thing have?" Juno asked the young Twi'lek.

"Dual turboblasters," replied Arruna, frantically attempting to gain on the shape-shifter's ship. "There are the controls."

It was at this precise moment that Master Lok's call came through on Juno's holo-communicator. "Are you there, Juno?" he demanded. "I've been trying to reach you for hours."

"We were in hyperspace," Juno replied as she manned the turboblaster controls. "I'm a bit busy. We've caught the Clawdite," she explained.

"You have him prisoner?" Lok asked.

"No," Juno shouted, firing on the enemy ship. "He's in a patrol-and-attack - looks like a Firespray-07 - we're in pursuit. I'll call you back."

"Where are you?" Lok asked, but he was cut off mid-sentence.

It was almost an hour before Juno called back. "Are you all right, Juno?" Lok asked, worried.

"I'm fine," Juno replied.

"Your signal's weak. Where are you?"

"Somewhere called Tatooine," Juno replied. "We forced the assassin to put down. We're about to head out after him, as soon as this sandstorm subsides. That's probably what's interfering with the signal. This is one strange planet," she added.

"Yes, I know it," the Iridonian replied. "Be careful, Juno. Who's with you?"

"Senator's Vao's aide," Juno replied. "Listen, I found out what Vao was doing on Manaan. You were right, Master Lok. It was the key to the whole case."

"Excellent," Lok replied. "We found out what Senator Plono was doing on Taris too."

"We?"

"I'm with Danto. He's my padawan now."

"Congratulations, Danto," Juno said, as Danto appeared on her communicator. "So, what was Plono doing on Taris?" she asked. "Wait, let me guess. It was something to do with running for chancellor."

"Supreme Chancellor?" Lok asked, confused. "Plono? No. Why do you say that?"

"That's why Vao was on Manaan," Juno replied, briefly explaining what she had learned on the water world. "That's what links them. She was running for chancellor, as was your uncle," she added, addressing Danto's hologram. "Plono must have been too."

"Plono was on Taris to meet a representative of Czerka," Danto retorted.

"Czerka?" repeated Juno. "Vao mentioned them. She said there were two factions in the Senate - Plono's and your uncle's - and Czerka was what divided them."

"Everyone knows," Danto replied, "my uncle was opposed to Czerka Corp."

"What did he have against them?" Juno asked.

Lok asked Juno had to repeat her question, as her signal had gone while she was speaking, and she duly did so.

"He didn't trust them," Danto replied. "I think it was the range of... And after the war he felt... Gave away too much."

"I didn't catch all of that," Juno said, cursing the interference. "Do you mean money, though?"

"Maybe," Danto replied. "I'm not really sure."

"What side was Senator Vao on?" Lok asked.

"She wasn't," Juno replied.

All three Jedi were silent, lost in thought. Eventually the Jedi master spoke. "There are three senators," he recapped, "dead or discredited - Plono, your uncle, and Vao. Are they connected?

"Corona and Vao were running for chancellor, but not Plono..."

"We don't that for certain," Juno interjected.

"Plono and Vao," the Iridonian continued regardless, "are connected by the assassin, who seems to have had a hand in both their downfalls, but he played no part in Corona's death.

"Plono and Corona, on the other hand, were connected by Czerka, inasmuch as they were on opposite sides in the Senate. But Vao was apparently neutral. Juno, are you sure she wasn't in either faction?" Lok asked.

"She said not," Juno replied. "And I believed her."

"If Vao and Plono's downfalls are linked, it seems even more unlikely Corona's death was revenge for Plono - a tit-for-tat killing by the other side."

"There must be something that connects all three," said Danto.

"Perhaps," Lok replied. "Or perhaps they are not all linked, after all."

"It's the chancellorship," Juno insisted. "We don't have evidence Plono was planning to stand, but he was seen as a potential candidate - you said so yourself, Master Lok."

"But who would stand to gain from their deaths?" Lok asked, and then, answering his own question, he said: "Another candidate, I suppose."

"Senator Janus was the front runner, before my uncle came along," Danto chimed in. "Juno's right - that is what connects them. Janus wanted them out of the way."

"Janus did not kill your uncle," Lok reminded his padawan, without discounting the theory entirely. "Nor did his faction - Janus and Plono were on the same side. It was your uncle and his killers who were against them."

"Don't ask me how I know this, Danto..." Juno began slowly, "but Senator Kype Quinn was shown something before he killed your uncle. I don't know what it was - but whatever it was made him strike down his best friend in the middle of the Senate House in broad daylight."

"How do you know that?" Danto asked, immediately disregarding Juno's instructions.

"That's not the point," she replied, before adding: "He says it was incontrovertible, but what if it wasn't? What if someone tampered with SIS intelligence?"

"What do you mean, 'SIS intelligence'?" the Iridonian asked, exchanging glances with Danto and Holden.

"Like I said," Juno replied, slightly confused, "Senator Quinn was shown SIS intel before he..."

"No," Danto interrupted, more animated than he had been. "You didn't say it was SIS, Juno."

"Sorry," Juno said, not really sure what she was apologising for. "What difference does it make?"

"SIS work for Janus," Danto said, raising his voice even louder. "Janus used Quinn and the others - used them to kill my uncle. We've got to go back to Coruscant, Master!"

"Calm yourself," Master Lok warned his young padawan. "There is no emotion. Anger is the path to the Dark Side. It will cloud your mind. Do not jump to conclusions. What evidence could Janus possibly fabricate to make Quinn and the others kill their friend in the Senate, like Juno says?"

"What do you mean," asked Juno, when the Iridonian had finished speaking, "'back to Coruscant'? I thought you were on Dantooine. What's going on?"

"We're aboard the Endar Spire," Lok replied, "near Onderon. It's a long story - we don't have time for it now - but means we cannot assist with your investigation at the moment."

"What investigation?" asked Danto, more calmly than before, though he was clearly still rattled. "We know who's behind it. We should confront him."

"With what?" Lok asked. "Even if you are right, Danto, what evidence do you have?"

The young man understood his master's point. "So what _do_ we do?" he asked.

"What _would_ we do, you mean," the Iridonian asked pointedly, "had you not agreed to come to Onderon?"

Danto nodded his head, a little sheepishly, and Lok continued: "Whether you are right about Janus or not, we need to speak to this Czerka representative, this man Plono was supposedly on Taris to meet. We should see if Janus's story checks out, and find out more about their dealings with Czerka."

"One of needs to go back to Taris, then?" Juno asked, without any great enthusiasm.

"No," Lok replied. "Decker informs me the man has left Taris. He is running Czerka's operations on Kashyyyk now."

"So, someone should go to Kashyyyk," Juno said, more cheerfully. "Wait, who's Decker?"

"Can we trust Decker, though?" Danto asked.

"Who's Decker?" Juno repeated, with more urgency in her voice.

"Danto and I can't go," Lok replied, ignoring them both, "as I explained."

"Well, I can't go," Juno retorted. "This storm's starting to subside - I'm going after the..."

Juno's signal went completely, however, terminating the call. Lok tried to call her back, to no avail. "I hope she's careful," Holden muttered under his breath.

"You should go on without me," Danto said to Lok. "I promised I'd stay here with the fleet - I never said you would."

"I can't leave you," the Iridonian replied. "You're my padawan."

"I don't mind," Danto insisted.

"It is out of the question," Lok insisted, more firmly.

The Jedi had reached an impasse, and there was a long silence. Finally, Holden Gray, who was sitting quietly in the corner of the cabin, spoke up. "I'll do it," he said. "I'll go to Kashyyyk."

"You?" asked Lok, before falling silent again. Although he could think of plenty of objections to the plan, he realised that none of them were valid in their current situation. "Very well," he said finally, surprising even himself.

"Probably for the best," growled Holden. "I get the feeling your uncle's men don't like me much."

Danto had easily persuaded his uncle's men to join him on the Endar Spire, just as Senator Janus calculated, though admittedly this was before they learned of Holden's background. Holden was more perceptive than he let on, and in this instance he was quite right. As soon as they worked out that there was a Mandalorian in their midst, even a former member of the clan, the crew of the Endar Spire started to make life difficult for him. His departure turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Lok and Danto, as his presence had put a strain on Danto's relationship with the crew, even after he pointed out that Holden had fought on the same side as them in the Mandalorian Wars and was friends with their general.

As promised, Agent Finn Decker explained the situation on Onderon to the Jedi. It was not what they had been led to expect, and presented them with quite a challenge, though at least Master Lok now understood why Senator Janus was so keen to send his padawan to Onderon.

The so-called rebel fleet blockading the planet was made up of Republic ships. Their captains and crews were loyal to Admiral Anto Riggs, Danto's uncle, and Admiral Riggs had recently joined the fleet himself, to oversee the blockade.

While Admiral Riggs's fleet orbited Onderon, stopping any ships coming or going, a second fleet, under the command of Admiral Brevet, was orbiting Admiral Riggs's fleet, essentially blockading the blockaders. The Senate had decreed that the Republic fleet - Admiral Brevet's - was not to open fire on the rebels unless Riggs actually attacked Onderon. Both sides appeared keen to avoid a civil war, which is what any fighting would be, and so Riggs and Brevet were keeping their fleets a reasonable distance apart. The fleets were evenly matched, which may also have explained the stalemate, because neither side had the upper hand. It also explained why it was so important to Senator Janus that the Endar Spire, and any other such ships, join the Republic fleet.

As for the cause of the blockade - the original blockade, by Admiral Riggs - it was explained by the presence on Onderon of its senator and his brother, Pavel and Kit Cascara. Although Admiral Riggs had, at first, agreed to Janus's compromise - whereby Corona's assassins left the capital but retained their seats in the Senate - it soon became clear to him that his own fleet would not tolerate anything less than their heads on a stake. Anto Riggs had no problem with this either, as Jaso Corona had been his friend, and so the fleet travelled to Onderon in pursuit of the Cascara brothers. The admiral demanded that the Onderonians surrender them, but Onderon's Queen refused. And so the blockade began.

"How much do you know about Queen Talia?" Agent Dekker asked Master Lok as they sat on the bridge of the Endar Spire, watching Admiral Riggs's fleet orbit the planet in the distance. Decker was younger than Lok - in his thirties perhaps - but about the same height. For a man who apparently spent most of his time behind a desk, he had a surprisingly athletic build.

"Not much," Lok replied. "Only that she is said to be descended from a Dark Lord."

"Wait," said Danto, who was sitting opposite his master and the SIS officer. "The Queen of Onderon's a Dark Jedi?"

"Not at all," replied Lok. "She is merely descended from one - as are we all, probably, if you go back far enough. No, as far as I know, she is not even Force-sensitive."

"She is young," Decker snapped impatiently, as if annoyed that the Jedi had digressed again, "but she's been Queen a long time. The power behind the throne, though, is her general, General Vaklu, a hero of the Mandalorian Wars and a rank populist," he added, running his hand through his smart, dark hair.

Danto glanced at the SIS officer. "They used to say the same about my uncle," he retorted.

"I'm only talking about Vaklu, you understand, not all heroes of the Mandalorian Wars."

"Why is this Vaklu fellow important?" Lok asked.

"He intends to send a ship up and the run the blockade," replied Decker. "He'll either call Riggs's bluff, in which case the blockade is effectively over and Vaklu is a hero, or the admiral will open fire on the ship..."

"In which case it is civil war," said Lok, finishing the agent's sentence. "Why would he take such a risk?"

"Either way," Decker said, shrugging his shoulders, "the blockade will be over."

"This is madness," Lok said.

"And Vaklu will be dead," Danto pointed out, "if his gamble doesn't pay off."

"No, no," the agent said, smiling. "The general isn't going up in the ship himself. He's sending the senator's brother, Kit Cascara."

"So, it's not all bad news, then," Danto joked. "It may be civil war, but at least one of my uncle's killers will be the first to die."

"How do you know all this?" Lok asked Decker out of curiosity.

"We have our sources on the planet," the SIS officer replied.

At that moment, Master Lok received an incoming call on his holo-communicator. "Senator Janus's office," he whispered to Danto. "Good - there was something else I wanted to ask him," he added, vaguely, not wishing to be too specific in front of Agent Decker.

A hologram appeared, of the senator's aide, the young woman Lok and Danto met on Coruscant. She seemed uncomfortable talking to Lok, as if she feared that he would turn her into a Klatooine paddy frog at any moment. "Master Zeren?" she stuttered.

"Yes."

"Master Zeren, the Senate has asked you to make contact with Admiral Riggs. It's hoped this blockade can still be resolved through diplomacy."

"Does the Senate ask this, or Senator Janus?" asked Lok casually, again not wanting to arouse Decker's suspicions.

"The senator speaks for the Senate," the aide replied, an ambiguous sentence if ever there was one.

"Janus didn't suggest this," Dekker said, when the call ended. "He knows we've tried this already. It's those old men in the Senate."

"We've tried this already?" Lok asked, confused.

"There's another Jedi master on the planet," Decker replied. "He asked to speak to the admiral. Riggs turned him down out of hand."

"Perhaps the Senate feels we will have more luck," Lok suggested, "because of my padawan's relationship to the admiral."

"Perhaps," the agent replied, clearly unconvinced.

Try as they might, the Jedi could not warm to Agent Decker on the flight o Onderon.

Lok wisely left it to his padawan to contact Admiral Riggs's flagship. Although Danto did not speak to his uncle himself, he was given permission to board the ship, and to bring a Jedi master with him. And so Lok and Danto found themselves landing a starfighter in a hangar on the Nautilus, Admiral Riggs's ship, not one hour after speaking to Senator Janus's aide.

Anto Riggs had sent an armed escort to welcome his nephew, and so the Jedi emerged slowly from the starfighter, taking care not to make any sudden movements as they pulled their hoods over their heads and followed the guards along the winding corridors.

The admiral was standing on the bridge, and Danto recognised some friends and associates of his other uncle, Jaso Corona, milling around him. "Danto, my boy," the admiral boomed as he spotted his nephew approaching.

"Uncle Anto," the Padawan replied, warmly but not too warmly, as his uncle embraced him.

"What brings you here?" his uncle asked, only half joking.

"Your blockade of a sovereign member of the Republic," Danto replied, smiling as he spoke.

"I know, I know, but it had to be done," his uncle replied, shrugging his shoulders, as though he were explaining a decision to put down a sick, old dog. "They have to pay for what they did to Jaso," he added.

"I agree," Danto replied warily, "but is laying siege to a planet of 93 billion people really the best way to accomplish that?"

"What are you doing here, really?" the admiral asked, less jovial now. He turned to face the Jedi master as he spoke.

"The Senate sent us," Lok informed him. "It is not too late to resolve this peacefully. No shots have been fired. No one's been killed. We can still work this out."

"'No one's been killed.' Interesting. Your words. So you're Janus's new lapdog, are you?" the admiral asked. "I heard he had a Jedi knight in his pocket. And what about you?" he added, turning to face his nephew again. "I've got to say I'm disappointed, though I suppose I shouldn't blame you. He had my head all muddled up for a while too. Still, I guess he's only doing what he thinks is best for the Republic. Bigger picture, and all that. Me, I have other priorities."

At that exact moment, however, the Nautilus was rocked by a blast from another starship. Admiral Riggs and his crew rushed to the various screens and sensors, and then to the windows. "It came from the planet," one of his crew members shouted, pointing at a blip on his screen. He was referring to a ship, rather than the blast itself.

"Damn you, Vaklu," Riggs muttered under his breath. "Fine. Return fire. Signal the fleet."

"Wait," Lok implored, but it was already too late. The Jedi felt another tremor as the Nautilus opened fire on the Onderonian ship.

"Well, you can't say no shots have been fired now, either," the admiral shouted at Lok. In desperation, Lok reached for his lightsaber, but the small army of droids on the bridge aimed their blasters at the Jedi. "Don't shoot," the admiral shouted, "damn it.

"I'm sorry, Danto," he continued. "I'm going to have to ask you and your friend to sit this one out in the brig, I'm afraid."

CHAPTER 12 A New Threat Emerges

On Tatooine, Arruna Tak'sa and Juno Celerier waited almost an hour longer for the sandstorm to subside. When it finally did, they emerged from Senator Vao's ship and approached the wreckage of the Firespray-07, which they had trailed from Manaan. They had landed the senator's ship as close as they could to the crash site, but it still took several minutes to reach it, wading through the sand. They approached the wreckage cautiously, in case the changeling assassin was still inside, but the tiny patrol-and-attack craft had been abandoned.

Juno despaired at first, sure that the sandstorm would have covered the Clawdite's tracks, but almost as soon as they reached the ship Arruna shouted: "Footprints!"

The sand just under the cockpit had been sheltered from the storm by the ship's hull, and there were still faint prints in it, tracks that became fainter and fainter with every step until, after five or ten paces, they vanished altogether. Intriguingly, there were two sets of prints: an alien's - no doubt the shape-shifter's - and a droid's.

Unfortunately, it was impossible to say for certain from such a short set of tracks which way the assassin was heading. Juno and Arruna retreated to the senator's ship, after they had searched the Firespray in vain.

"Where could go?" Juno asked.

"There's only one place anywhere near here," Arruna replied, bringing up a map of the planet. "A small settlement, Anchorhead."

"How far is it?"

"Far enough that you don't want to walk."

Arruna and Juno flew to the settlement, such as it was, and landed in a purpose-built dock. They paid a hundred credits for the dubious pleasure of using the docking facilities, and headed out of the landing dock and into the settlement, a collection of orange awnings, sand-coloured buildings and hovels in traditional Tatooine style. "Who were those people?" Juno asked suspiciously as they were leaving the dock. "They didn't look like any authorities I've ever seen."

"They're Czerka," Arruna replied, slightly surprised. "You must have seen their uniform before."

"I'd never even heard of them till yesterday," Juno protested.

"You Jedi," Arruna said, smiling to herself. "They pretty much run this planet," she continued. "In fact, they pretty much run a dozen places like this - the kind of places no one cares about."

"Aren't there any authorities at all?"

"They're the authorities - security, finance, you name it - they've got it sewn up. I've dealt with them plenty for the senator."

"Vao has a lot of dealings with them, does she?" Juno asked casually.

"I wouldn't say that," Arruna replied, equally casually, "no."

They walked into the main square in Anchorhead as they talked, a hub with a dozen spokes. Anchorhead was one of the oldest settlements on Tatooine, and it was bigger than Juno was expecting after the flight in. "How are we ever going to find a Clawdite here?" she asked in despair.

"You managed it on Manaan," Arruna said encouragingly. "Besides, if he's still got the droid with him, that should make things easier."

Juno looked round the square, which was teeming with Jawas, Saurins, Gamorreans - but above all droids - dozens and dozens of droids - and replied: "Yes, no problem, Arruna."

They asked around, and then headed to a couple of local cantinas. One was a self-styled hunting lodge; the other, on the far side of the settlement, had no name. In both they found the usual assortment of pazaak sharps, drunks and big-game hunters drawn to Tatooine by the planet's vast, open dunes and the dunecats, dewbacks and other prey that lived there. Rumour had it that there were even still dragons living in the planet's most inhospitable corners, in the canyons and dunes, monstrous creatures with chilling cries that made even the native sand people take flight.

No one knew anything, and no one had seen anything - though that did not stop some of the hunters attempting to extort credits for information that they clearly did not possess. One of the gamblers in the second cantina suggested that they try a swoop track just down the road, if it was a droid that they were looking for, or a droid shop on the far side of the square. Juno and Arruna were on their way to the latter when Juno sensed a presence watching her. From the corner of her eye, or perhaps even beyond it, she glimpsed a cloaked figure following them, keeping to the shadows that ran round the edge of the square, staying out of the searing heat of the midday sun.

"Don't turn round," Juno whispered to her friend under her breath, "but there's someone following us." She nodded her head as she spoke, towards about eight o'clock. Arruna peeled off suddenly into a narrow alleyway behind the pourstone houses, and Juno followed. A few seconds later the cloaked figure rounded the corner, hurrying after its quarry, and Juno went to seize it. Her hands, however, passed clean over its head.

The creature immediately let out a series of high-pitched squawks. It stood no more than three feet tall, and wore a traditional brown-hooded robe. It jabbered away, its glowing yellow eyes boring into Juno's face imploringly. "What is it?" Arruna asked, quickly realising that it was no threat. "Does it always talk that quickly?" she added, when the creature's rate of speech did not slow as it began to calm down.

Juno thought that she knew the alien's race, but did not answer. She focused on the creature instead, trying to make out what it was saying. Somehow, she seemed to understand. "I think he knows we've been asking about a droid," she said. "He's seen one passing through Anchorhead."

"So what, little man?" Arruna asked, unimpressed. "There must be hundreds of droids pass through Anchorhead every day."

"There was something special about this one," Juno replied. "I don't think he remembers who the droid was with - except he was a large, ugly alien with leathery skin... and a face with no lips," she added, doing her best to translate as the Jawa trilled away.

Arruna and Juno exchanged glances. "Another Weequay?" Arruna exclaimed. "That's got to be them."

"Listen, I've been chasing this alien since Taris. This is very important. Do you know where they went?" Juno asked the Jawa.

"Wait," Arruna interrupted. "Why's he helping us?"

"I guess he knows we're not interested in the droid," Juno whispered, shrugging her shoulders. "He probably wants to keep it when we're done."

The Jawa eventually managed to communicate that the alien and the droid had set out from Anchorhead on foot, heading towards the Dune Sea. He seemed to think that they were heading towards a sand people enclosure on the edge of the Sea, which, despite what the name suggested, was a large stretch of barren sand utterly devoid of water. Evidently the Jawa had noticed and remembered them because of the droid, which was heavily modified, no doubt making it quite the catch.

"They're heading to the Dune Sea," Juno informed her friend.

"Of course they are," Arruna replied, shaking her head. "Why on earth would they want to go there, though?" she added, examining the area on her map.

"If I wanted to escape someone on Tatooine - go somewhere no one would follow," Holden said - "the Dune Sea would be it."

Juno glanced at Holden's image in her holo-communicator, clearly concerned. She had tried to get hold of Lok and Danto, but they were not answering.

"Be careful," the Mandalorian continued. "Everything you've said about the droid - what the Jawa said too - it sounds like you're dealing with an assassin droid. Don't underestimate those things."

"Thanks," Juno replied. Holden's image flickered and began to cut out. "Where are you?" she asked.

"Just coming into Kashyyyk," he replied. "We've been orbiting for hours, waiting for clearance."

"Kashyyyk?" Juno asked in astonishment. "What are you doing there?"

"Long story," said Holden. "Look, I got to go," but even as he spoke, the women lost his signal.

"An assassin and an assassination droid," mused Arruna. "I've got a bad feeling about this." She unloaded two large blaster pistols from an overhead locker as she spoke, and two holsters, which she proceeded to strap to her hips.

"Do you know what you're doing with those?" Juno asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't worry about me," Arruna replied.

Arruna and Juno hired speeders from a Hutt by the name of Motta, and set out the next day, at daybreak, as the first sun rose, hoping to catch up with the assassin, who was, after all, travelling on foot, by all accounts. They raced over mile after mile of sand, stretching as far as the eye could see, flat and lifeless, broken only by the odd moisture farm or sandcrawler making its way out of, or back to, Anchorhead.

After an hour there were no signs of civilisation, or indeed any kind of life, save for a convoy of dewbacks, large, four-legged reptiles, crawling across the sand and pausing every so often to warm themselves in the sun. They saw the women on the speeders in the distance but paid no attention to them.

After another hour the second sun began to rise and the terrain began to change. Dunes appeared on the horizon, interrupting the endless sea of sand, and then rocks and canyons. Curious rock formations of pink and grey spiralled out of the ground, known locally as "fairy chimneys" or "devil's chimneys" on account of their eerie colour and the way that they rose as if by magic from the rock. Juno followed the little Jawa's directions to the letter. When they reached the coordinates that he had provided, she could see caverns and rocks in the far distance, but around them the terrain was flat again.

"Where's this camp?" she asked as she brought her speeder to a halt. "Damn than Jawa."

"It's beautiful out here," Arruna said, having apparently not heard her friend, "but you wouldn't want to be stranded out here after dark."

"He said the sand people camp was right here," Juno continued.

"Perhaps they've moved on," Arruna said. "Besides, it sounds like we don't want to run into them anyway."

Juno nodded, unconvinced. She stepped off her speeder and looked up at the sky. Momentarily blinded by the brighter of the two suns, she stumbled forward - and almost fell into a deep gorge. Right in front of them, barely a few feet beyond the speeders' noses, the ground dropped away suddenly into a gaping chasm - and yet from where Arruna was sitting on her speeder it seemed that the sands continued into the distance for ever.

"How the hell did we miss this?" Juno asked, startled.

"We almost flew right into it," Arruna said in astonishment, once she had peered forward to see what her friend was looking at. "We could have died," she exclaimed, the truth suddenly dawning on her.

"Shush," Juno hissed, seeing some tents at the bottom of the chasm. "It's the camp." They crept forward to the edge of the cliff and watched the tents for a short time. There was no sign of movement. "They must be out hunting," Juno concluded.

"Not us, I hope," Arruna said, before adding: "Wait, that can't be right. Didn't that Ithorian say their women never left the camp?" she asked, referring to one of the aliens in the cantina the previous evening. "What was his name? Fazza, Frazza..."

"What's that?" Juno hissed again, interrupting her friend and pointing at a large brown heap beside one of the tents. "Is that... a bantha?" she asked - a rhetorical question. "It's dead, whatever it is."

"Do you think they attacked the camp?" Arruna asked - "the changeling and the droid, I mean."

All of a sudden, they heard the sound of distant blaster fire, not from the gulley or camp below, but from the rocks on the horizon. "Did you hear that?" Juno asked, but before she had finished her sentence they saw the flashes in the hills, presumably blaster bolts illuminating the rocks.

"Let's go," Arruna shouted, jumping back on her speeder. Juno followed her and they made their way around the gorge, which came to an end almost as abruptly as it had begun. They then flew straight towards the fighting.

When they arrived, they recognised the sand people, despite never having seen them before, from their light, almost sand-coloured robes - a form of camouflage - and distinctive studded masks. They were standing in front of a cave mouth, engaged in a deadly fire fight. Although they outnumbered their opponents, the Weequay and the droid, the Tuskens were clearly losing the battle. Every time a Raider fell, the droid hurled a taunt at the remaining sand people: "Gloating statement: this is far too easy, Master," for example. Arruna lay down on the ground behind a rock and aimed at the droid's perception sensors, a series of nodules all but concealed behind the armour plating on the back of its head. Although she had the element of surprise, the droid was still some hundred paces away - and yet the Twi'lek made the shot with ease. The droid howled, a most unheroic, almost girly shriek, and started to shout at its changeling master that it could not see.

"Good shot," Juno whispered, clearly impressed.

"Told you," Arruna said, smiling.

By now, however, the sand people party was down to its last two members, and the shapeshifting assassin quickly dispatched them, armed as they were with nothing but sticks. He then rounded on Juno, who had crossed about half the ground between them, unleashing a volley of blaster fire.

"Shoot the Jedi," he shouted at the droid, to no avail - the assassination droid was walking completely the wrong way, towards the cave. "Obvious statement: I cannot see, Master," the droid said.

Juno deflected the bolts with ease, and the changeling, still in the form of the Weequay, was forced to take cover behind rocks, his back to the cave, as Arruna unleashed a volley herself, firing with both hands. "Don't kill him. We need him alive," Juno reminded her friend, shouting across the sand.

The droid ran round in circles, lashing out wildly with its arms, even though it was nowhere near the Jedi. All of a sudden, a bright light appeared in the cave - a long, thin strip of light, illuming the deepest, darkest depths of the cave red - and then a second. Before anyone realised what was happening, two Jedi flew out of the cave. One landed beside the droid, immediately decapitating it and then cutting it clean in half with a mere flick of a lightsaber. The other landed behind the assassin and planted his foot on his back. The changeling started to roll over, pointed his blaster at the Jedi's head, and changed shape at the same time, hoping to confuse his assailant. The Jedi simply threw the blaster from the shapeshifter's hand, without even touching it, and the pistol flew through the air, hitting the wall of the cave and disintegrated into a hundred different parts on impact, it was thrown with such force. The Clawdite looked up, staring straight into the Jedi's eyes - he could just about see them through a thin, horizontal strip in the Jedi's mask - and let out a blood-curdling scream. As he did so, the Jedi plunged his lightsaber into the assassin's mouth, gripping the handle with both hands and driving it deep into the sand beneath him.

The blood drained from Juno's face. "Run!" she screamed at Arruna, who was much closer to the speeders than she was.

The Dark Jedi were still some forty or fifty paces away from her, and she set off as fast as her feet would carry her. The first Jedi, who was dressed head to toe in red save for a black cloak and boots, threw his lightsaber at Juno, the red blade spinning like a deadly Catherine wheel. Juno felt his attack just in time, and managed to deflect the lightsaber with her own, behind her back, without turning or even breaking her stride. The red lightsaber flew off at an angle, but the Dark Jedi, as bald as a coot though still a young man, simply pulled it towards him, caught it and gave chase on foot.

Arruna had reached the speeders, and turned to glance at her friend, unsure what to do. "Go, go," Juno urged, sprinting towards her. Juno was some twenty or so paces away, with the Dark Jedi a similar distance behind her. As Arruna started the engine, however, the second Jedi, the masked one, leaped through the air and landed a few feet behind her friend, his black hood and robes billowing behind him in the breeze.

Arruna aimed her speeder right at him and accelerated, reaching a good speed by the time she hit him - or rather almost hit him, because he rolled out of her path at the last minute. Arruna had to bank sharply to avoid the cave, pulling away from the Jedi, and set off immediately towards Anchorhead without looking back.

The distraction allowed Juno to jump on her own speeder and start it. As she did so, the masked Jedi, who was on his feet already, fired a bolt of lightning from his fingertips, not at Juno but at her speeder. The speeder's engine spluttered momentarily, but then sprang to life, and Juno set off after her friend. The Dark Jedi were not done, however, and the other, the one in red, leaped through the air and landed on top of her, one foot on the seat behind her, one foot on her shoulder. The speeder lurched forward and almost hit the ground, before recovering. The Jedi went to choke Juno, but she lashed out with her free arm, elbowing him in the most uncomfortable of places. Without making a sound he fell backwards, landing on the sand on his back. By the time Juno looked round, he was up and running again, a few paces behind the masked knight, though they had no hope of catching the speeders now.

Juno and Arruna did not stop for breath until they reached Anchorhead. "Who the druk were they?" Arruna screamed, clearly still in shock. "Why did they kill the Clawdite?"

Juno had no answers, save that they should report this to the Jedi Council and leave the planet at once, though not necessarily in that order.

"What about the assassin?" Arruna asked, though it was hardly a protest. "I thought you said you'd been following his trail since Taris."

"The trail's gone cold," said Juno, unable to stop picturing the Clawdite's twisted face as the lightsaber was driven into his skull.

CHAPTER 13 The Battle of Onderon

Master Lok sat meditating quietly in the brig of the Nautilus as his padawan paced up and down. A wave of fighters blasted the hull outside, striking and then retreating towards the Republic fleet, pursued by fighters from the Nautilus. Almost two hours had passed since the start of the battle, when Kit Cascara's ship had fired on the Nautilus, and Danto was growing impatient. "How can you just sit there?" he snapped at Lok. "We could be blown up any time. It's carnage out there. Chaos."

"There is no chaos," Lok retorted. "Only harmony."

The Iridonian's meditation was interrupted, however, by the sound of blaster fire, not on the ship's hull, but from the corridor outside the brig. Lok opened his eyes and reached for his lightsaber, which the crew of the Nautilus had not thought to confiscate. "Is that what harmony sounds like?" Danto quipped. "What is it - a boarding party?" he added.

His question was answered soon enough, when a young man, a square-jawed young man, appeared outside their cell. "Who are you?" Danto asked, before adding: "I know you, don't I?"

"Ensign Trask Ulgo," the young man replied, "from the Endar Spire. We're here to rescue you."

"You boarded the enemy flagship just to rescue us?" Danto asked in disbelief.

"Alright," the ensign replied, "we're here to rescue you _and_ take your uncle prisoner."

The ensign opened the cell door, as other soldiers from the Endar Spire entered the brig. "You had to fight your way in?" Lok asked.

"Not really," Ulgo replied, sounding surprised. "Apart from a few droids, we haven't come across any resistance."

"We've got to get to the bridge," Danto said, worried partly what would happen to them when they reached it and partly what would happen to his uncle if anyone else reached it first.

"This way," one of the soldiers shouted, heading towards a turbolift.

Their party, about a dozen Republic soldiers plus the two Jedi, encountered and dispatched a few droids along the way, but it was eerily quiet on the Nautilus, just as the ensign reported. When they reached the elevator, they ran into the other half of the boarding party, led by Captain Rigel himself - the captain of the Endar Spire. "Captain," said Lok, surprised. "Who's on the Spire?"

"I left Tash in charge," replied the captain. "Admiral Brevet wanted me to lead the boarding party personally," he added, understanding perfectly why the Jedi had asked the question.

They took the elevator to the command deck, uncertain what to expect. The two halves of the boarding party barely fitted into the lift, and they gave no thought to what would happen if they were fired on as soon as the doors opened. Fortunately for Captain Rigel and his crew, even on the command deck the corridors were quiet.

"Where is everybody?" asked Ensign Ulgo, but no one replied.

As they made their way quickly but cautiously along the corridors to the bridge itself, the situation became clearer. They encountered a trail of dead bodies, clearly the Nautilus's crew, and, when they eventually arrived at the bridge door bulkhead, a second boarding party.

"Who are you?" Captain Rigel asked, recognising neither the men nor their uniforms. "No one said anything about a second boarding party."

"Looks to me like you're the second boarding party," one of the men said, turning round. Like the rest of his group, he was a large man, heavily armed.

"Mandalorians," the captain warned, gasping and reaching for his blaster at the same time.

"Easy," the Mandalorian replied, though the word 'easy' had probably never sounded quite so threatening before. Other Mandalorians turned and aimed their blaster rifles at the captain's head.

"What are you doing on the Nautilus?" asked Lok.

"Brevet sent us," the first Mandalorian replied. "Not that he didn't have faith in you, Captain," he added, insincerely.

The Mandalorian's companions, behind him, were starting to burn through the bulkhead with a torch. "That will take for ever," Lok snapped impatiently, pressing his hand on the door controls. The bulkhead began to retract, exposing the door, which also started to open.

"How the hell did you do that?" asked the Mandalorian. "Know what? Not important," he added. "Just stay back," he continued, leading the Mandalorian mercenaries through the widening gap and onto the bridge.

At that moment, there came a loud ping from an elevator opposite the bulkhead. The elevator doors opened, revealing two rows of battle droids. "Cover!" the captain shouted as a volley of blaster fire came their way.

The Republic soldiers followed their captain's order, taking cover behind anything that came to hand, including the bodies of the Nautilus crew. The Jedi stood fast, deflecting the droids' bolts back at them whenever possible, and soon the droids were no more. "Are your men alright, Captain?" asked Lok.

There was no reply, and the Iridonian repeated his question. "Um, Master..." he heard his Padawan say. Looking down, he saw why the captain had not answered. The captain's men were all right, but the captain was not.

"Is he dead?" asked Ulgo.

"I'm afraid so," Danto replied, checking the captain's pulse.

"What should we do now?" the ensign asked.

"Follow me," Danto said, running towards the bridge doors, still anxious about what would happen once the mercenaries reached his uncle.

Admiral Anto Riggs and his crew - or at least those who survived - were bunkered down at the far end of the bridge. The Mandalorians were making their way slowly towards them, advancing carefully, using the screens and consoles for cover. They were clearly not having the best of the fire fight, as several mercenaries lay dead on the floor.

Lok, Danto and the Republic soldiers from the Endar Spire took cover by the doors, watching the unfolding struggle. "What should we do?" Ensign Ulgo repeated, turning to Danto for guidance. "Do we help the mercs?"

"Isn't that Dun Froom?" one of Ulgo's men asked, recognising one of Admiral Riggs's men. "Oh hell, no," he cursed. "I ain't helping no Mandalorian merc."

It soon became evident that the crew of the Endar Spire had been stationed with, and fought alongside, the crew of the Nautilus at one point during the Mandalorian Wars, and the soldiers refused point blank to fire on Admiral Riggs and his companions.

Seeing a door on the far side of the bridge, Master Lok whispered to Danto: "Stay here. I'll see if I can find a way through that door. Perhaps this can be resolved without any further bloodshed," he added, disappearing through the door by which they had entered the bridge.

Danto realised that his uncle's allies were not firing on him or the Endar Spire's crew either. They had, however, successfully whittled the Mandalorians down to a handful of men.

All of a sudden, more soldiers poured through the doors, troopers wearing the blue and gold of the Onderon military. Leading them was a Jedi who looked familiar to Danto, a handsome man with a strong jawline and tight, fair hair. He leaped over the remaining mercenaries with one bound, cutting a swath through the admiral's crew with his lightsaber, and landed at Admiral Riggs's feet. The admiral put down his blaster at once, not because he wanted to, but because the Jedi's lightsaber was pressed against his throat. His remaining friends followed suit, putting down their guns and surrendering to the Onderonian soldiers.

Danto and the Republic soldiers emerged from cover and walked towards the enemy. "Alright, Gunner," one of Admiral Riggs's crew called out, recognising one of Ensign Ulgo's men. "What're you doing here?

"Strange company you're keeping these days," he added, tilting his head towards the remaining Mandalorian mercenaries. Then, completely ignoring the Onderonian soldiers, who had Riggs and his men at gunpoint, the crews of the Nautilus and the Endar Spire walked towards each other, shaking hands and embracing.

"Well," Admiral Riggs said to the Jedi, "you have me. What are you going to do?"

"Signal your fleet," replied the Jedi. "Tell them to stand down."

The admiral acquiesced, and a cheer went up on the bridge. The fair-haired Jedi relaxed his shoulders and turned to Danto Riggs. "Thanks for the help," he said facetiously.

"That was impressive," Danto replied, a little in awe. "Do I know you?"

"I am Kavar," the Jedi replied, "of the Jedi Council."

"Master Kavar," said one of the Onderonian soldiers, tapping away at a console on the bridge, "the rebel fleet has disengaged. We are victorious."

Kavar smiled. "But Admiral Brevet is dead," the soldier added. The bridge of the Defiant took a direct hit.

Kavar turned and stared at Admiral Riggs. "Do you see what your arrogance has cost us?" he asked sternly. "Didn't we lose enough good men in the war?

"Get him out of my sight," he added, finally, addressing the Onderonian soldiers, who led the admiral off towards the brig.

As they reached the door, however, a figure in a dark cloak appeared in the doorway, evidently another member of the Onderonian boarding party. The admiral clearly recognised him and spat on the ground at his feet, before being dragged away by the Onderonians.

"Who's that?" Ensign Ulgo whispered in Danto's ear, but Danto did not recognise the stranger.

The answer, in the end, came from Kavar's lips. "General Cascara," he said, greeting the new arrival, "and Master Lok. Glad you could join us."

Danto looked back at the door, confused, and saw his own master standing in the doorway behind Senator Cascara's brother. Lok mumbled something about trying to find another way onto the bridge, and Kavar nodded politely. "We should go and round up the stragglers," Kavar said, glancing at Lok. The two Jedi Masters left the bridge together, followed by the remaining Onderonian soldiers and Mandalorian mercenaries.

Kit Cascara watched them leave, turned round, and realised that he was standing in a room full of soldiers who had served under the man he had helped to murder in the Senate. He tried to speak, but the words would not come out, and he scurried from the bridge instead.

"Where did the Jedi go?" Ensign Ulgo asked, before quickly correcting himself. "The other Jedi, I mean."

"To round up the rest of my uncle's crew, I guess," Danto replied, glancing at the members of the admiral's crew on the bridge. "Keep an eye on them," he added, addressing the Endar Spire crew members. "I'll go help them."

"I'm not sure that Jedi master needs much help," one of the Nautilus crew retorted, clearly also in awe of Master Kavar.

Danto had not been searching for five minutes when he stumbled, quite by chance, across Senator Cascara's brother alone in a medi-bay. Kit Cascara obviously did not know who Danto was, because he said: "Good work, Jedi. I've spoken to my brother on the planet. He says we'll recognise you and your friends' bravery - and that of our own military - with a parade through Iziz."

"You don't recognise me, do you?" asked Danto, surprised as much as anything else.

"Should I?" asked Cascara, smiling politely.

"I'm Danto Riggs," the padawan replied. "Jaso's nephew."

The blood drained from Cascara's face, especially when he noticed the lightsaber in Danto's hand. "What do you want?" he whispered.

"I want..." Danto replied, "to know why you did it - why you murdered my uncle in the Senate."

"It was all Kype Quinn," the man pleaded. "It was all his idea."

"Why?" Danto repeated, taking a step towards Cascara.

Cascara fell backwards into the medi-bay wall, and collapsed to the floor. "Your uncle meant to dissolve the Senate," he said, teeth chattering, "once he was chancellor."

"Lies!" yelled Danto, turning red.

"It's true, I swear," Cascara replied. "He was going to make himself dictator. It's all there in the SIS report - holo-recordings, messages..."

"You're lying," Danto repeated, standing over Cascara.

"Of course he is," Danto heard a voice behind him say, making him jump out of his own skin. He span round to see Agent Finn Decker standing in the medi-bay doorway.

"Decker!" Danto exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"There was no SIS report," Agent Decker said, walking slowly towards them, "was there? It was all Quinn's idea - Quinn and the Cascara brothers."

"That's not true," begged Cascara, tears streaming down his face as he kneeled at Danto's feet.

"Confess," Decker screamed at Cascara, standing beside Danto as he did so. Danto turned to Decker and did a double take. To his surprise, he saw that the SIS officer was holding a lightsaber, partially concealed by the sleeve of his tunic.

"This is your chance," Decker continued, turning to Danto. "This is your chance to avenge your uncle. Tp strike down his murderer."

"No," whimpered Cascara at their feet.

"Strike him down!" Decker shouted. "Strike him down! Give into your fury."

Cascara screamed and pleaded for his life. Danto suddenly realised that he had activated his own lightsaber, though he did not remember doing so. "There is only passion," Decker whispered in his ear.

Danto stood, poised to strike but unable to do so. "No! Don't do it!" he heard another voice say from the doorway. Turning round, he saw his master standing in the corridor, a look of sheer terror on his face.

"I..." Danto tried to say, but as he spoke he heard another lightsaber being activated, and then a scream. He span round in time to see Kit Cascara's lifeless body slumping to the floor. Agent Decker was standing over the corpse, holding his lightsaber aloft. The blade was as red as the blood gushing from Cascara's corpse.

"Join me," Decker commanded. "We shall defeat him together," he added, pointing at Lok.

"Never," shouted Danto, swinging his own blade at the SIS officer, who rolled nimbly out of the way.

In a single leap Master Lok crossed the room and stood by Danto's side. "Together," he said loudly. The two Jedi rushed at Decker, who deflected both lightsabers with a single, elegant sweep of his blade. He rolled across the medi-bay, rising to his feet and pointing at Danto. Danto felt his limbs go numb, and realised that he was floating above the floor. He felt his throat constricting and gasped for air, but there was none to be had.

Lok attacked the Dark Jedi again, striking with his full force. For a short time they duelled, the SIS officer still choking the padawan from the far side of the bay, until Lok lunged again and Decker was forced to release his grip on the padawan to grip his lightsaber with both hands. "Who are you?" Lok shouted as he battled Decker.

"That is none of your concern," the agent replied, his voice oddly distorted, as he swung his blade at the Jedi master's head. Lok blocked the attack in time, and they continued to duel, tearing up the medi-bay as they did so. Danto was back on his feet by now. He picked up his lightsaber and ran towards them, throwing out his hand and knocking the Dark Jedi off his feet as he was still some distance away. Decker rolled out of the way again, narrowly avoiding the yellow shaft of the Iridonian's lightsaber, and came up swinging. He duelled both Jedi for several seconds, his blade flashing back and forth between them, until Danto lunged forward, lowering his guard, and the Dark Jedi went to strike. Master Lok sensed what was happening and blocked Decker's attack, leaving his side exposed. Quick as a flash, the Dark Jedi changed his grip and thrust his blade into Master Lok's ribs. Lok cried out and slumped to the floor.

The padawan did not have long to react to his master's fall, as Decker renewed his attack with fresh fervour, raining down blow after blow on the young man's lightsaber. Danto could see his master lying in a pool of blood and unleashed his fury, flinging the Dark Jedi across the room, but Decker quickly recovered and started to choke Danto again. Danto dangled in the air helplessly, the light starting to dim. All of a sudden, a blue lightsaber flew across the room, from the corridor, striking Decker on the arm, a glancing blow, but enough to cause him to cry out and release Danto again.

Master Kavar leaped across the room, landing almost on top of Decker and striking with all his force. The Dark Jedi fought back furiously, but could not penetrate the Jedi's defence. Danto picked up his own lightsaber again, and rushed at Decker, stretching out his hand and knocking his assailant off balance again. As he did so, Kavar swung his lightsaber at Decker's head, severing it at the neck. Decker's head bounced across the medi-bay floor and came to a stop by the door, a look of fury still on the face.

Danto collapsed to the ground, wheezing heavily. Kavar also sat down, out of breath, though not as much. Finally Danto crawled across the floor to Lok, who was still alive, though only just. "There is no emotion," Lok said, grasping his padawan's shoulder, and then Lok was no more.

"Who the hell was that?" asked Kavar, regaining his breath.

Danto was still struggling to speak, but eventually managed to say: "Decker. SIS. Janus's man."

Kavar glanced at the Padawan, a momentary look of anxiety crossing his face. He crossed the room and closed the Iridonian's eyes. "There is no death," he said to Danto, trying to console him. "There is only the Force."

Danto, however, did not believe him.

CHAPTER 14 Diplomacy, Mandalorian Style

Holden Gray arrived at Kashyyyk, the Wookiee home world, just as the battle of Onderon was reaching its climax. He attempted to reach Danto on his holo-communicator, and then Danto's master, but they were both busy. Eventually, unsure where to begin his investigation, he contacted the third Jedi, Juno Celerier, on the planet Tatooine. For a long time, Juno did not answer either. Finally her image appeared on the communicator, yawning and stretching. "What is it, Gray?" she asked, a slight hint of grouchiness in her voice.

"Did I wake you?" he asked. "Is is night-time?"

"There are two suns," she snapped. "When's it ever night-time?"

"Try living on a planet where there's only ever day or night!" Holden heard a voice in the background say.

"Are you in Mos Entha?" Holden asked. "I know a good cantina in Mos Entha."

"That hardly surprises me," Juno replied. "Look, not to be rude, Holden, but what do you want?"

"Have you got through to Danto or Lok recently?" the Mandalorian asked. "I've been trying to get hold of them."

"I'm sure they're fine," Juno said, a little dismissively. "What do you want them for?"

"I'm not sure where to start," Holden informed her.

"You're looking for the Czerka representative Senator Plono met on Taris, right?" Holden was about to reply, but Juno continued: "Just bring yourself to Czerka's attention. If he's running their operation there, he'll find you."

"Right," Holden replied. "When you say bring myself to their attention..."

"You're an investigator now, Holden," Juno replied, seeing where his train of thought was leading. "We need a peaceful resolution. You can't go barging into the office of the Vice-President of Czerka Corp all guns blazing. He won't give you what we need. Be diplomatic, Holden, okay?"

"Got it," he replied.

The Mandalorian landed his starfighter in the middle of a great forest that stretched as far as the eye could see, even from space. He touched down on a landing platform in what appeared to be a large clearing, though the pad was actually high above the forest floor - so high that there were treetops under it. The trees themselves were wroshyr trees, the largest trees in the galaxy, and the platform was built into their bark, just below the canopy.

Although Kashyyyk was the Wookiee home planet, Holden did not see many of the creatures as he made his way to the nearest building, a short walk from the pad. Instead, the people en route were mostly unsavoury types, mercenaries and bounty hunters, Echani, other Mandalorians, and so on. This was not the Kashyyyk that Holden had heard about, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. The office and the landing pad were connected by a large wooden walkway, which at first glance appeared little more than a rope bridge running through the treetops, but Holden found to his relief that it was strong and stable. The office seemed normal enough, a small room with a large desk in it, behind which was a professional-looking woman in a black, green and gold dress that Holden took to be the uniform of Czerka Corporation. She glanced at him as he entered the office, and at his blaster rifle. "Here for work?" she asked, staring at the weapon. "Sign up in sector 7." Her suspicion turned to disdain, however, when Holden informed her that he had business with Castor Seario, the son of the Czerka Corporation President.

"He doesn't deal with the mercs," she said, laughing out loud. Suddenly, however, she became very polite. "Are you the bounty hunter Castor told me about? He delegated me the authority to negotiate your fee, if that's what you're worried about."

"What's the job?" asked Holden.

"Czerka Corp has been awarded a contract by the Galactic Senate to rebuild Edean," the official replied, as if she were reading from a script, "and source resources that will prove useful in the rebuilding of other planets too."

"Edean?" Holden asked. "You mean Kashyyyk?"

"Same difference," said the woman, speaking more naturally and laughing again, "except to the protesters. I can see you're not with them, though," she added confidently, eyeing his blaster rifle again.

"What do you need bounty hunters and mercs for, then?" Holden asked.

"The protesters break into our camps sometimes - stop us..."

"Security work?"

"No. We have our own people for that," the woman replied. "No, this job is... more proactive. We'd like to root the problem out at the source. Interested?" she asked, holding out a datapad.

Holden remained silent but took the datapad from her hand, curious to see what it contained. He found information about named individuals - personal details and locations. Holden guessed, correctly, that the men and women in the datapad were the campaigners' ringleaders. "What do you want done with them?" he asked.

"As I said," the woman replied, "we're hoping to root out the problem."

"Is that legal?" asked Holden, surprised.

"What do you care?" she asked, laughing again. And then, turning back to her corporate voice, she answered: "The Galactic Senate has authorised Czerka Corporation to deal with any threat to the successful rebuilding of Edean and other worlds as it deems fit.

"Seriously," she added, "don't ask me how, but they actually got that into the contract. Long as you keep it on the planet, anything goes."

"I'll think about it," Holden replied, careful not to commit himself. "I still need to speak to Seario."

"Can I ask what it's regarding?"

"A mutual acquaintance," Holden replied.

"If you take care of enough of our problems for us," the officer replied, "I'm sure Vice-President Seario will be pleased to meet with you."

"Eliminate enough protesters and I get to meet Seario?"

The woman glanced at Holden suspiciously, but then nodded. "Get proof, though," she instructed. "You're not the only one on this job. We've got to know who to pay."

The Mandalorian stepped out of the office feeling dirtier than when he stepped in. Holden had done these kinds of jobs before, of course, but not for years. He stood in thought a moment, holding the datapad in his hand, then he muttered: "Sod it," under his breath, and threw the datapad over the rail. He watched it fall out of sight into the darkness below, between the trees, never hearing it hit the forest floor.

"Are you okay, Sir?" he heard a voice ask. Turning round he saw a young man, a teenager even, maybe, facing him. The man was wearing the same green and gold uniform as the woman in the office.

"I dropped my datapad," Holden replied. "Say, can you help me, kid? The lady in there said I had to report to Seario. Do you know where I can find him?"

"Oh, yes, Sir. He'll be at head office," the young man replied, eager to help. "Is that your ship? You want to go to sector 1. Here, I'll show you."

The Mandalorian followed the young man's instructions to the letter, though when he arrived at landing pad 1A it was full and he had to fly to the next pad, which was called pad R57, inexplicably, even though it was only a few minutes' walk from pad 1A.

As he was making his way along the walkway, however, heading back towards pad 1A, a young woman approached, coming the other way, a pretty redhead. Holden smiled, though in truth his smile was little different from his scowl, but the redhead stopped and glared at him.

"You're one of them, aren't you?" she said, blocking the walkway as she accosted him. "One of the scum that do Czerka's dirty work for them."

Holden attempted to protest his innocence, but the woman continued: "What have you done with Lori? Don't play innocent. I know you know what I'm talking about."

"Listen, lady," said Holden, finally managing to get a word in, "I don't work for Czerka - not even indirectly, if you get my drift. I'm here to see their VP."

"Oh," the woman replied, clearly unsure whether to believe him or not. "Well, good luck getting in there," she said, gesturing over her shoulder. "They wouldn't even let me through the front door."

"Thanks," Holden said, hoping to draw the conversation to a close. He managed to sidestep the woman and continued towards the building.

"Wait," the girl barked, turning round and running after him, like a small dog nipping at his ankles. "Do you know anything about Lori?"

The Mandalorian turned to face her, and immediately noticed her eyes, the bluest he had ever seen, or so he thought. She had leaves in her hair and what looked like small bits of bark on her face, but there was no mistaking her beauty. She misread his face, thinking that he was staring at her blankly, and added: "Lori Brand. She's our leader. Please," she begged, as Holden began to back away from her. "She's gone missing."

As it happened, Holden did recognise the name, because he had seen it not one hour earlier on the datapad that the Czerka officer had handed to him. He started to shake his head, and then, changing his mind and sighing, as if annoyed at himself, he whispered: "Listen, lady, forget about your friend.

"What's your name?" he asked, feeling a sudden, strange concern for the young woman standing before him.

"Flora," she replied. "Flora Pothecar."

"Flora," Holden repeated, laughing and glancing at the trees all around them. "Makes sense. You're one of the protestors, right? - one of the kids trying to stop Czerka rebuilding Kashyyyk?"

"Stop them destroying the Wookiees' homeland - stripping it bare - you mean..."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Holden said, interrupting. "Listen, it ain't my fight. I shouldn't even be talking to you. Your friend's on a list of people Czerka wants dead. Yours too, probably. I'm guessing she's dead already. And if you don't get off this planet I'm guessing you'll be too, soon enough."

Tears welled in the girl's eyes, and she mouthed her friend's name. Holden had never been good with crying women. As a single drop started to roll down her cheek, clearing a tiny path through the film of dirt, he turned his back and strode towards the landing pad and Czerka offices in the distance.

"Wait," she shouted, running after him. "You've got to help us."

"Get off the planet, Lady," Holden growled, considering the warning help enough.

"No!" the young woman screamed. "Haven't you wondered why Czerka got a contract to rebuild a planet the Mandalorians never touched?" Haven't you..."

"Listen," snarled Holden, turning to face her and pressing his forehead almost against hers, "I've only been on this rock an hour. I never heard about no contract before today, and I couldn't give a druk, okay? Now beat it, kid."

The colour drained from the woman's face, and she turned and fled towards the pad where Holden had left his starfighter. He smiled to himself and headed towards the Czerka offices.

Castor Seario's office was several times the size of the office that Holden had found himself in earlier that day, as befitted the son of the president of one of the most powerful corporations in the galaxy. The young man was sitting at his desk, watching a recording of a swoop race, when Holden strolled through the door.

"Who are you?" the young man asked, alarmed. "How did you get in here?"

"Calm down, kid," Holden replied. "I have an appointment. Didn't your secretary tell you? He must have, cos he let me in," he added, pretending to be confused.

"You're lying," Seario retorted, reaching for a button under the desk. "I'm calling security."

"No need for that, kid," Holden assured him. "Let me explain. We have a mutual friend - or we did - Senator Plono."

"You're a friend of Plono's?" the Czerka Vice-President sneered in disbelief.

"Yeah," Holden replied, "and I think you can help me find out what happened to him."

"Very well," the young man replied, to Holden's surprise, "but you'd better make it quick. Security are on their way."

"All we want to know is what he was doing on Taris."

"Is that all?" asked Seario. "It's no secret. We were there to talk about the Duros contract. Czerka works closely with our friends in the Senate..."

"Yeah, spare me the BS," Holden said. "Friends like Janus, you mean?"

The young man nodded. "Yes, that's no secret either," he replied. "Senator Janus, Senator Plono, others - even Chancellor Grenna, before he was chancellor - Czerka works with anyone who has the interests of the Republic at heart. We have nothing to hide."

"Profitable, is it?" growled Holden, looking around the office as he spoke.

"We are a business," the young man replied, "but ultimately we want to do the right thing for the Republic too. Plono wanted to rebuild his planet. Czerka wanted to help. There's no harm in making a little money out of it. Janus gets that. Plono got that. But their enemies in the Senate don't. If you're trying to find out what happened to him - and I hope you do - he was a good man - I suggest you start with them.

"And now, if you'll excuse me, I have another appointment," he added, rising to his feet and walking to the door, desperately hoping that his security team was about to enter.

"Wondering where security are?" growled Holden, stopping the young man in his tracks. "They're not coming," he added.

"What did you do?" Seario asked quietly, alarmed. He made a bolt for the door, but ran smack bang into the butt of Holden's rifle. Staggering backwards towards his chair, he felt the blood trickling out of his nose and down his face. "Look what you've done," he shouted in disbelief, pointing at his shirt.

"Sit down," yelled Holden, kicking him into his chair.

"Do you know who I am?" threatened the young man, still clutching his nose. "You're a dead man."

"Let's start again," said Holden calmly. "Why don't you tell me what Plono was really doing on Taris."

"We were discussing the Duros contract..." the young man started to say, defiantly, when the butt of Holden's rifle slammed into his face again, with more force this time. Seario screamed in pain - Holden had broken his nose this time - and almost fainted when he realised that there was blood pouring out of the middle of it now, above the bridge, as well as the bottom. "What the druk did you do?" he screamed.

"Tell me what Plono was doing on Taris," Holden growled for the third time, raising the rifle butt over the young man's face.

"Okay!" Seario screamed. "Okay! Quit hitting me."

Holden pulled back the rifle and sat down on the desk, facing the young man. "What do you want from me?" Seario asked. "We were there to talk about his campaign - about funding. Is that what you want to hear?"

"What campaign?"

"For chancellor, of course," replied Seario, spluttering angrily.

"Plono was running for chancellor?" asked Holden. "Supreme Chancellor?"

"Of course, Supreme Chancellor," snapped the young man. "What other chancellor is there?"

"And you were funding his campaign?"

"Sure, why not? The Duros were good to us."

"But what about Janus?"

"What about Janus? We fund him too."

"Did he know about Plono?"

"'Course. He's Janus. He knows everything. Besides, you don't think we'd keep it secret from him, do you?"

"That's what Plono was doing on Taris?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?"

"I don't believe you."

Holden was lying, of course, but as he spoke he raised the rifle again. It had the desired effect, because the young man screamed: "Wait, there's proof. It's in my safe." As he spoke, he hurried over to the wall and a wall safe appeared as if by magic out of thin air.

"Easy," Holden growled as Seario opened the safe door. The young man backed away from the safe, and Holden pushed him back into the chair, where he sat, nursing his bloodied nose.

"The red datapad," the young man whimpered. "It has records of all the payments we made to Plono for his campaign - before that, too."

Holden took the datapad out of the safe and pocketed it. "Aren't you even going to check it?" the young man asked indignantly.

All of a sudden, Holden heard a noise at the door. He swung his blaster rife round in time to see someone bursting into the room: the young redhead, Flora Pothecar. Flora had evidently been eavesdropping. "I knew it," she shouted at Seario. "You're paying them off, aren't you? Janus, Plono, Grenna, all of them - that's how you got the contracts - backhanders, bribes - corruption."

"I thought I told you to get lost," Holden growled.

"Wait," interjected the young man. "You're in league with them? - those Yeti-loving, hippy..."

"I am not," Holden interrupted.

"How the druk did you even get in here?" the young man screamed at the girl. "Where the druk's my security?"

"Are they those guys on the floor?"

"We need to get out of here," Holden said to Flora.

"Wait," she protested. "Is that his safe? We can bring down Czerka Corp with what's in there."

Holden slammed the door shut, however, and the safe slowly faded from view, melting into the wall. "I got what I came for," he growled. "Let's go."

"What about him," Flora protested again, pointing at the Czerka VP. "You're not just going to leave him here, are you? - after what he did to Lori?"

"What would you have me do?" Holden asked, and then, seeing a wild glint in her deep blue eyes, he added: "Forget I asked. I thought you tree-huggers were meant to be all peace loving and stuff.

"Come on," he added, grabbing her by the shoulder and pushing her into the corridor. As he was leaving, Holden turned and glanced at the young man. "Bloody Jedi," Holden muttered under his breath. "Don't know what all the fuss is about. It's easy, this investigating business."

CHAPTER 15 A New Order

Back on the Nautilus, the badly damaged flagship of Admiral Riggs, the admiral's nephew Danto and the crew of the Endar Spire were holding the funerals of Master Lok Zeren and Captain Rigel, and mourning their passing. After the death of their captain, the crew of the Endar Spire had started to look to Danto for leadership. What was more, after the death of Admiral Brevet, who was in command of the Republic fleet, a number of other captains were starting to take their orders from the Jedi padawan, even though Rear Admiral Karath on the Leviathan was the highest-ranking surviving officer and now technically in command of the fleet. Karath was unpopular with his fellow officers, however, many of whom had served under General Jaso Corona.

To complicate matters even further, the ships and crews that followed Admiral Riggs to Onderon to take part in the blockade had now been reabsorbed into the Republic fleet, reuniting old friends and creating the largest single fleet ever assembled. These men also seemed willing to follow their admiral's nephew, in part because he was also Corona's nephew, and in part because of the way he had treated his other uncle in victory.

This is how a young Jedi padawan, barely out of the academy, came to find himself in command, in effect, of the Republic fleet, a situation almost without precedent, and one that troubled the Galactic Senate and the Jedi Council immensely. The Senate, as ever, was slow and thorough in its deliberations, but after a few days they sent a delegation to the Nautilus, led by their man on the ground, Senator Pavel Cascara. His presence on board the Nautilus, manned as it was by Admiral Riggs's men and the crew of the Endar Spire, men who served directly under Jaso Corona, did not go down well. "Assassin!" they jeered at the senator, as he walked the ship's corridors. "Murderer!"

When Cascara demanded, claiming to speak on behalf of the Senate, that the fleet report directly to the senator, via Admiral Karath, and the young padawan return to the capital, a riot almost ensued on board the Nautilus. Peace was only restored when Danto himself escorted Cascara to his uncle's former quarters, ostensibly for the senator's own safety, though it soon became clear that it would be difficult for him to return to the planet.

While the Senate continued to debate and deliberate, an emergency meeting of the Jedi Council was convened - a meeting to which Danto was not only invited but also allowed to speak, for the first time. Master Kavar joined the padawan on board the Nautilus so that they might address the Council together via holo-link.

"A most unusual situation," noted Master Vandar, "you find yourself in, hmm, young padawan?"

"Yes, but not entirely without precedent," retorted Master Kavar. "This is the second time in recent history that a young Jedi has found himself at the head of the Republic fleet."

A number of the other masters nodded their heads and frowned. "We should learn the lessons of history," Master Atris interjected, and the other masters appeared to agree.

"I agree," Master Kavar replied, somewhat cryptically, almost as if he were seeking to hide his true thoughts from the young man in the room with him. "Besides, Revan was no padawan. Danto served the Order well in the battle - with distinction, even - but now he must finish his training."

"To be commended," Vandar said, "the padawan's role in the battle and his response after it is."

"I am ready for the trials, Masters," Danto informed the Council eagerly, interrupting Vandar. "I no longer need to be a padawan, if that is your objection. Besides, my master is dead."

"There are others who can train you," Master Vrook said sternly.

"No," replied Danto, slightly too loudly. "I'm ready now. Besides, I'm needed here."

"It is clear to us that you are not yet ready," Vrook said, and a number of the others nodded.

"There is no shame in that, Danto," another master, the Kel Dorian interjected. "If you finish your training with Master Kavar before your trials, you'll be all the better for it."

Danto was about to reply when Master Zez-Kai Ell, the master with the distinctive moustache, asked: "Where's Senator Cascara? The Queen has been onto the Senate. She says you're holding him prisoner."

Kavar and Danto exchanged glances. "He's on the ship," Kavar replied, "but he's not prisoner. He's free to go at any time."

"Best it is," Vandar mused, "if the senator returns to Onderon with you after the Council, Master Kavar."

Kavar nodded. "And what about what he did to my uncle?" snapped Danto angrily.

A few of the masters exchanged looks. "For the Senate to decide," Vandar replied, "their colleagues' fate, it is."

"She also says you haven't lifted the blockade," Zez-Kai Ell added, referring again to Queen Talia of Onderon.

"I can see why she might think that, with the fleet in orbit," said Kavar, diplomatically, "but I can assure you that is not true."

The other masters nodded, apparently satisfied. "Very well. Danto Riggs will make it clear to the fleet that they are to resume their normal chain of command," Atris announced, apparently speaking for her colleagues, "and continue his training under Kavar. Unless, that is," she added, in a very thinly disguised threat, "he wishes to play no further part in the Order."

Kavar retired to his makeshift quarters soon after the Council and prepared to return to the planet. He suggested to Danto, who seemed almost unwilling to release his hold on the Republic fleet, that he take an hour to reflect on the Council's teachings, without emotion.

Matters were further complicated, however, straight after the meeting, when one of the Endar Spire's crew reported that Admiral Karath had left the fleet. Having tried and failed to exert his authority over the others, Karath had withdrawn his own ship, the Leviathan, and crew, flying to Taris, where he had other business.

Without Master Lok or Juno - or even Holden - to turn to for advice, Danto found himself pacing the corridors of the Nautilus alone. Almost by chance, he found himself standing outside the brig, where his uncle was being held. Cautiously he peered round the door. One of the men from the Endar Spire was chatting to his uncle, who was sitting inside a stasis field. Admiral Riggs saw his nephew and smiled. He was in a better mood than the last time his nephew had seen him, on the bridge, and it seemed that all was forgiven. "Danto, my boy," he boomed, and the guard sprang to attention.

"Hello, Uncle," Danto said warily. "How are they treating you?"

"Can't complain," his uncle replied. "Well, I could, but no one would listen," he added, a joke. Suddenly his face lit up. "I hear you killed Kit Cascara, and that creepy SIS guy."

"Agent Decker?" Danto asked. "Yes - well, Master Kavar did. Turns out he was a Dark Jedi. We didn't kill Cascara, though - but he is dead."

"Also heard you've got his brother on board this ship," Riggs continued. "We're finally catching up with the men who killed Jaso, then."

"He's a guest," Danto began to protest, but he saw his uncle smiling and decided to let him believe what he wanted.

"I think it was Decker who set Uncle Jaso up," Danto continued. "He made it look like he was plotting to overthrow the Republic - to dissolve the Senate."

"What are you talking about?" the admiral asked, surprised.

"He faked something to make it look like Uncle Jaso was planning a coup, then showed it to Quinn and Cascara."

"What are you on about? He didn't fake it," the admiral replied matter-of-factly. "I don't doubt he was the one who showed it to Quinn, though. He always was easily led."

"Wait," said Danto, interrupting his uncle. "What are you saying? Are you saying Uncle Jaso was planning a coup?"

"Coup's a strong word," his uncle replied, again with alarming frankness. "He'd probably have respected the public vote. But, yes, if he'd won he'd have declared martial law."

Danto sat down on the floor, fearing that his legs were about to give way. "You're telling me Uncle Jaso - Jaso Corona - would have overthrown the Republic if he'd been elected?" he asked in disbelief.

The Endar Spire crewman beat a hasty retreat at this point, disappearing into the corridor.

"Hey," the admiral replied, offended on the dead man's behalf, "your uncle loved the Republic, kid. That's why he was going to do what he was going to do - to save it - restore it to what it was, before the likes of Janus and his Czerka cronies corrupted it. Sure, I can see how, out of context, his plans might have look suspicious..."

"Suspicious?" Danto fumed. "How the hell can you blame Quinn, then?"

"Hey," the admiral shouted, "Jaso was their friend. They should have come to him with it - not knifed him in the back. Decker must have poisoned their minds - convinced them it was the only way to stop him. That's why I blame them - for being so weak."

"All this time," Danto said, still unable to comprehend what he was hearing, "I thought Janus was taking out rivals, and now I find he was trying to prevent a coup."

"What do you mean, 'taking out rivals'?" asked his uncle.

"Plono, Uncle Jaso, Vao," said Danto. "Anyone who was going to run against him. They're all dead... Or good as."

It was his uncle's turn to be surprised. "Plono?" he asked. "The Duro? He'd never run against Janus."

"Apparently he would," Danto retorted.

"Do you have any evidence?"

"No," Danto replied, hanging his head.

"Listen," said the admiral, seeing the despair in his nephew's eyes. "Janus is evil. This doesn't change that. It's him and his kind who betrayed this Republic, not your uncle. While we were fighting and dying in their war, they sold us out. They're the ones who wanted to take our liberties away, not Jaso. He was ready to stand down once he'd exposed them, and face the people.

"Janus is everything that's wrong with the Republic - money, power, corruption. Hell, he sent a Jedi to kill you. What more proof do you need?"

Danto remained silent, and eventually his uncle asked: "What are you going to do? What are you going to do about Cascara?"

"I have to let him go," Danto replied. "The Senate's going to give him the fleet."

"You can't do that!" the admiral protested in disgust. "Whatever else is true, the Cascara brothers slaughtered your uncle in cold blood. He should be facing trial. Hell, that's what this blockade was all about."

"I'm to leave the fleet with Master Kavar," Danto added.

"This is Janus," the admiral hissed. "He's played you for a fool, kid. He only sent you so you'd divide Jaso's men - stop them joining the blockade. Every man in this fleet wants to see justice for Jaso, and now Janus is putting them in Cascara's hands."

Danto reflected on his uncle's words for a short time. "Why would Janus want this power in Cascara's hands? They were enemies before Uncle Jaso's death. Uncle Jaso, Cascara, Quinn - they all opposed Janus."

It was the admiral's turn to be silent. As with all conspiracy theorists, however, any evidence that did not fit the theory only served to convince him that he had been right all along. "Janus is clever!" he replied. "Cascara's a pawn of the Senate, and Janus controls the Senate now. That gives him control the fleet. You've got to stop him, Danto."

Danto hung his head again, deep in thought. His uncle's words made no sense, and the earlier revelations were still taking their toll, but he could not shake the feeling that, if only he had all the pieces of the jigsaw in front of him, he indeed would see that Janus was playing him for a fool. It was at that precise moment, just as he was weighing up his options, trying to decide what to do about Cascara and the fleet, that his friend Holden Gray's holo-call came through.

"Danto, is that you?" a slightly fraught Holden asked.

"Holden, I can barely hear you," Danto replied. "Where are you?"

"Hang on," his friend replied.

"Is that blaster fire?" Danto asked, suddenly concerned.

"Had to leave Kashyyyk in a hurry," Holden explained, though it was far from the full explanation. "I'll be free in a second."

True to his word, Holden soon cleared the forest planet. The signal immediately improved, and the sound of gunfire faded into the distance. "What the hell's going on?" Danto asked.

"Listen, Danto," Holden replied, "I got it."

"Got what?"

"The proof you need. Plono was standing for chancellor. Juno was right - that's what connects them. It's all here in black and white. That's why Janus had him killed."

"You have proof Janus killed Plono?" Danto asked, rising to his feet.

"Not quite," Holden replied. "Well, I don't know. There might be something on here. But it's got to be him."

"That's good work," Danto said excitedly.

Holden smiled. "I always knew I'd make a good diplomat," he said.

"See!" Admiral Riggs screamed from inside his stasis field. "What did I tell you?"

"Who's that?" Holden asked, worried that he had put his friend's life in danger. "Agent Decker?"

"No, no, it's my uncle."

"Listen, Danto, you need to watch out for Decker. He's Janus's man. See if Decker's name's on that thing," he added, though it was unclear to whom he was speaking.

"Thanks for the warning," Danto replied. "But you're a bit late."

Holden was about to ask what he meant, though he had a good idea already, when he suddenly realised that someone was missing. "Hey, where's horn-head?" he asked instead.

"Master Lok?" Danto asked. "Holden, I have some bad news."

Danto relayed the events of the past few days to his friend, who listened aghast. "And so Decker was a Dark Jedi," Danto concluded. "He killed Lok. He damn near killed me."

"Is he...?"

"Dead," Danto replied, interrupting his friend.

"Then it is Janus," replied Holden, convinced.

"I told you," Admiral Riggs repeated, screaming at his nephew.

"I can't find any record of Decker," a voice said. It came from Holden's end, but it was a woman's voice.

"You're not alone?" Danto asked his friend, surprised.

"No," replied Holden, grimacing. "Long story."

All of a sudden, a second face appeared in Danto's communicator, a young woman's. "Sorry to hear about your friend," she said, attempting to sound sincere, before immediately continuing: "It's a gold mine, this datapad Holden found. It proves Czerka were paying senators for contracts. Janus, Plono, Rangla'ja - even Grenna one time. This is going to blow the whole drukking lid off Senate corruption."

"Sit down," Holden growled. "I can't see." As he spoke the second hologram vanished, jerking out of sight, in a way that suggested the young woman had been shoved with force. "Stupid girls," he muttered, "blocking my view."

"Who was that?" Danto asked his friend, amused.

At that moment, however, Ensign Ulgo, the young officer from the Endar Spire, entered the brig, interrupting the conversation.

"Orders from the Senate, Sir," the ensign announced, standing to attention, clearly in two minds about whether to interrupt or not. "We're to leave Onderon, Sir. We're to accompany Senator Cascara to Taris and rendezvous with Admiral Karath. You're to return to Coruscant, Sir.

"The men aren't best pleased," the ensign added.

"This is it!" Admiral Riggs exclaimed. "This is what I told you about. Janus is making his move. He's used you and now he's discarding you."

"What are your orders, Sir?" the ensign asked the Jedi, apparently unaware of the chain of command.

"What choice do we have?" asked Danto. "If the Senate says we're to fly, then we fly."

"What!" bellowed his uncle, exploding with rage.

"You're not going to let Janus get away with it, are you?" asked Holden - "after what he did to your uncle - and Plono - and Master Lok?"

"We fly," Danto repeated. "Signal the fleet. They're giving us no choice."

CHAPTER 16 The Plot Thickens

Juno Celerier and Arruna Tak'sa, the Twi'lek senator's aide, had rented a room for the night in Anchorhead, to reflect on what they had seen in the desert and plan the next steps of their investigation, such as it was, as they had all but run out of leads. Arruna was lying on the bed, and Juno was combing her hair in the mirror, when they heard the news on Juno's communicator. It came in the form of a recorded message from Jedi Master Atris of all people, and what Juno heard made no sense at all - so much so that she had to replay the message three times. And yet there was no doubt about it. Atris wanted it to be known far and wide that Juno's friend, Master Lok's padawan, Danto Riggs, was leading a blockade of the capital, Coruscant, by the Republic fleet - the entire fleet - save for the Leviathan, the ships destroyed in the Battle of Onderon, the ships lost during and immediately after the Mandalorian Wars, and a handful of smaller vessels. Juno left Tatooine at once, travelling with Arruna Tak'sa in the senator's spaceship. They headed not to Coruscant but to Dantooine and the Jedi academy.

The academy was all but deserted, however. There were no Jedi masters on site, as they had all been summoned to the capital. The only person in the entire academy who was familiar to her was Chronicler Dorak, the kind, bald man in his fifties. Dorak immediately confirmed the reports that she had heard. "Yes - your friend," he insisted, as if passing the blame onto her, after she denied the reports. "Danto Riggs and his uncle."

"What about the soldiers on Coruscant?" asked Juno. "Is this civil war?"

"General Corona's men? - are you kidding? They've gone over to your friend too. He's holding Senator Cascara prisoner and threatening to put him on trial on board the Defiant - a military trial - for what he did to Corona. Danto's demanding Quinn and Organa and the others too - Janus, even. He claims to have evidence implicating Janus is in the murder - and the murder of another senator, if you can believe it," he added, glancing nervously at the young Twi'lek. Juno proceeded to introduce them, but this only served to remind Dorak that it had been Juno who first introduced him to Danto Riggs.

"Where are our masters?" Juno asked, uncertain whether to be more concerned for her friend or the Order and Republic. "Have they gone to stop him?"

"I don't know," Dorak replied.

The young Jedi and the Twi'lek had all manner of questions, but Dorak could not assist.

"I don't understand," Arruna said to Juno eventually. "What are we doing here? Why aren't we on Coruscant?"

This, however, was a question that Juno could not answer. Even Dorak did not know the real reason that she had travelled to Dantooine. Apart from Juno, only the Jedi Council knew of Dantooine's secret visitor. And so, at the break of dawn the following day, Juno set out alone on a speeder, flying across the yellow plains. She arrived at the small farmstead well before midday, leaving her speeder at the fence and walking up the garden path on foot for the third and final time. She entered the small house without knocking, and waited patiently in the kitchen.

Eventually Dol Grenna emerged, the avuncular old man with rosy cheeks, who also just happened to be Supreme Chancellor of the Republic. He was dressed as plainly as ever, and Juno even suspected that he was wearing the same clothes that he had worn on her previous visits.

"Juno," he exclaimed, seeming please to see the young Jedi. "What brings you back to my little farm? Is Master Lok not with you today?"

"No," Juno replied, without any pleasantries. She assumed, of course, that Lok was either still on board the Republic fleet, attempting to dissuade his padawan from his course of action, or else on Coruscant with the other Jedi masters, no doubt preparing to stop Danto by force. Juno had not felt the disturbance in the Force, and was still unaware of Lok's fate at the hands of the Dark Jedi.

"Yarba?" the Supreme Chancellor asked politely, his voice still sounding as though it were on the point of cracking.

"No tea, Chancellor," Juno replied brusquely. "No more games, either. Why didn't you tell us your friend was on Taris to discuss running for the chancellorship?"

"Where did you hear that?" Grenna asked. Remarkably, it appeared that he was the only person in the galaxy not to have heard Danto's allegations, which had been plastered all over the news for the last two days.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Juno repeated.

The chancellor hung his head in shame. "Because I didn't know," he replied, eventually. "Not for sure. Plono had stopped confiding in me. That was the first sign, I suppose, in hindsight. No doubt he thought I was too close to Zed."

"Senator Janus?" Juno asked, and the chancellor nodded.

"So it's true, then," he said, sighing. "Zed denied it, but I feared as much. I couldn't bring myself to admit it, though."

"You think Senator Janus killed Plono?"

"Don't you?" asked Grenna.

Juno glanced at the old man and then nodded her head, just once. "So that's why you're really here - so he can't hurt you?"

"Zed can do anything he wants," Grenna retorted. "He really is a remarkable man, Juno. But even he would think twice before attacking me on the Jedi home world. Besides, he doesn't need to kill me. I'll be out of his way soon enough."

"This isn't our home world, Chancellor," Juno replied. The old man looked at her, confused, but smiled politely. "How long have you known?" she asked.

"But I didn't," he insisted. "Not for sure. I had my doubts when the others started to die..."

"What others?" asked Juno. "General Corona, you mean?"

"No," the chancellor retorted, to the Jedi's surprise. "Long before that. Senator Tey, Senator Edel, the Viceroy..."

"Wait," said Juno. "That was during the war. The war! Are you saying Janus started eliminating rivals during the war?"

"I don't know," Grenna snapped. "All I know is they were real contenders to take over from Chancellor Cressa. Not like Vao and Plono - Zed could beat those two any day of the week, with one hand tied behind his back.

"In my darkest moments, I've even wondered if Cressa's illness..."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Juno interrupted

"There was nothing to say," the old man protested. "I didn't have proof, Juno. The Viceroy died of natural causes. Edel died in battle. No one suspected foul play. And when Zed didn't stand last time... I checked with him, obviously, before putting my name forward.

"But then Plono turned up dead, once he decided to run against Zed..."

"And you called us in to investigate," Juno interrupted again, completing the old man's sentence for him. "Why _do_ you think Janus didn't stand when Cressa stepped down?"

"I've asked myself that so many times," the old man replied. "I don't know. I suppose he wants a full term, not just the handful of months I got."

"You should return to the academy," Juno advised the chancellor. "Janus will be desperate now he's exposed. You're not safe here." The old man smiled politely again and did not argue.

They stood in silence for a few seconds. "If I had spoken up," he said finally, "when I was first elected, Plono would still be alive. Corona too. That man really was a great hero."

"Don't blame yourself," Juno consoled him. "You didn't know for sure. You had no evidence, like you say. Who'd have believed you anyway?"

"I did know, though," the chancellor finally admitted. "I knew what Zed was capable of, at least.

"Zed Janus is evil," Grenna added solemnly, reaching out and grasping the Jedi's arm. "You have to stop him. Corona's nephew is doing the right thing." The old man was staring into Juno's eyes. She returned his stare. "Promise me you'll stop him. Promise me you'll stop him before he destroys the Republic," the chancellor implored.

"I promise," Juno replied, equally solemn.

Arruna was waiting for Juno at the Academy when she returned that same afternoon. "That sweet old man's looking for you," the young Twi'lek informed the Jedi: "Master Dorak."

"I've had my fill of sweet old men for one day," Juno replied, smiling wearily. Arruna looked at her friend, confused, but Juno did not elaborate.

They found Dorak in the antechamber and, to Juno's surprise, he led them both into the chamber. The room was empty, and it soon became clear that Juno was expected to speak to one of the academy's masters via holo-link.

"I've found her," Dorak said, shouting into the machine, though there was no hologram on display. All of a sudden, the diminutive, green figure of Master Vandar appeared. Juno breathed a sigh of relief, as she had half been expecting to see Master Vrook.

"Kept you waiting," the Jedi master chortled, "I hope I have not."

"Master Vandar? How may I be of service?" Juno asked.

"Heard about Master Lok's padawan," Vandar replied, "you have?"

"Yes, Master Vandar."

"To you alone," the little master continued, "willing to speak he is. Come to Coruscant you must. There may be a peaceful resolution to this."

"Why me?" Juno asked.

The little Master shrugged, an action that was lost over holo-link. "He did not say."

"Is Master Lok not with him?"

The Jedi master was, unusually, briefly silenced. "You have not heard?" he asked finally.

"Heard what?"

Anyone unfortunate enough to have ever had bad news broken to them by one of Vandar's species will attest that it is not a pleasant experience. Juno collapsed into a seat, conveniently placed nearby, and remained silent for several minutes as Dorak tried to comfort her.

Finally she asked Vandar: "What are you going to do about Danto?"

"Circumstantial at best," the Jedi master replied, "the evidence against Senator Janus is - but not uncompelling, especially when coupled with the evidence you uncovered on Taris and Manaan. Logical, even," he added, "the padawan's conclusions seem to be."

"You're not sending a strike team aboard the fleet?" Juno asked, not really expecting the Jedi master to answer the question.

Master Vandar surprised her, however. "Act now, without the full facts, and no better than the padawan would we be. Split on this question, the Jedi Council is.

"Come to Coruscant," he added for good measure, "you must."

CHAPTER 17 The Head of the Serpent

As soon as Juno and Arruna's ship left hyperspace, within reach of the Galactic Republic capital, it was hailed by one of the ships in the Republic fleet, an Orion-class destroyer. Juno feared the worst, but the officer on the other end of the link was not only polite and courteous but seemed to be expecting her. He even offered her safe passage to the planet surface, if she so desired. Juno ended the call in order to speak to Master Vandar once again, which she did on her communicator. He suggested that Juno go straight to Danto Riggs on the Defiant, and repeated his assurance that the Jedi Council had no immediate plans to end the blockade. As soon as the call ended, Juno contacted the Republic fleet again. She spoke to the same officer, he cleared her ship to land, and the young Twi'lek took them in.

There was a small welcoming party waiting for them in the hangar when they touched down, a motley assortment of heavily armed Republic soldiers. Danto had not come to welcome her in person, but Juno immediately recognised, standing among them, the unmistakable figure of his Mandalorian bodyguard, Holden Gray, who had clearly returned from Kashyyyk. Even among a group of elite soldiers, Holden stood head and shoulders above the rest. He smiled, or at least Juno fancied that he smiled, when he saw her step out of her ship.

Standing beside Holden was a young redhead with the most beautiful blue eyes. Her skin was both tanned and yet somehow pale at the same time, and now that she had washed her face and hair she could have passed for Alderaanian royalty. Holden introduced Flora and Juno introduced her Twi'lek friend. "Where's Danto?" she asked.

"On the command deck," Holden replied. "He can't afford to take any chances," he added, glancing at Arruna.

"Master Vandar gave me his word," the Jedi informed him. "Danto is safe for now."

"He's leading a blockade of Coruscant," retorted Holden. "There ain't no such thing as safe. Not if history's taught us anything. Look at Corona."

"Is it true, then?" Juno asked - "he has evidence against Janus?"

"'Course it's true," Holden replied, almost sounding offended. "I found it myself."

"There's more than's on the news too," Flora chimed in. "Czerka paid him millions and millions of credits - just before votes, and every time."

"That's not technically illegal, is it?" asked the senator's aide. "Not if it's dressed up as it consultancy or something."

"You could dress this one up as the Alderaanian ambassador," Flora interjected, gesturing at Holden, "but he's still just a big Mandalorian with a blaster rifle."

"You wouldn't have it any other way," Holden replied, smiling.

Juno was taken aback. Had it been anyone other than Holden, she would have been convinced that he was flirting with the redhead. "Wait," she said... "Is there something going on with you two?"

The redhead blushed and Holden was silent, which led to an awkward silence. "It's obviously immoral, though," Arruna interjected, to break the silence, "even if it's not technically illegal."

"It's corruption," the redhead snapped, "plain and simple. How can you stand there and defend it?"

"I wasn't..." the Twi'lek began to protest.

"Forget about it," Holden said, interrupting. "She's always like this." Flora opened her mouth, pretending to be shocked, but then stuck her tongue out at him.

"It's still doesn't prove he had Corona and Plono killed, though," said Juno, "or ordered Decker to kill Cascara and Master Lok."

"Or set Vao up," added Arruna.

"Danto knows that," Holden replied. "That's why he's pressing for corruption charges first. We can link him to Decker and Decker's murders and whatever it was Decker showed Quinn later. If Quinn and the others testify against him - and that dirty Czerka rat - he's done for anyway.

"Why, you don't think he's innocent, do you?" he asked the Jedi suspiciously.

"Of course not," she retorted. "But what we know and what we can prove in a court of law are two very different things. Just because Corona and Plono and Vao were going to stand against him - and others - doesn't mean..."

"Others?" Arruna and Flora asked in unison. "What others?" Arruna then added.

"It's not important," Juno replied, still wary of revealing her source, "but Plono may not have been his first victim."

"What are you talking about?" asked Holden, who was also curious to know where this new information was coming from.

"Look," Juno replied as politely as she could, glancing at all three of them, "this is for Danto's ears only, really."

This answer seemed to satisfy Holden, if not the young women, and he took the hint, saying: "Danto's waiting for you on the bridge."

"Lead the way," Juno replied.

They made their way along the corridors of the Defiant, the three women, the Mandalorian and the soldiers, until they reached the command deck. Danto was deep in conversation with a number of the fleet's captains and a large, muscle-bound man who turned out to be the leader of a strike team. Admiral Riggs, Danto's uncle, was standing among the captains, clearly out of the brig. Before Holden or Juno could speak, Danto saw them approaching and announced: "We're moving against Janus tonight. Lt Ardo's men are on a shuttle as we speak. Are you with me?"

"'Course," Holden replied without a moment's hesitation. "Let's make the bastard pay."

Danto turned and faced Juno. Juno had not seen him since they parted ways outside the academy on Dantooine, before he even became Master Lok's padawan. "What about you, Juno?" he asked.

"Do you mean to kill him?" Juno asked.

"No," Danto replied firmly. "We're going to arrest him. I want the galaxy to know what he did to my uncle - and Plono."

"And Vao," Arruna interjected again.

"Who's this?" Danto asked, suddenly suspicious. He had only just grown used to Flora Pothecar.

"This is Senator Vao's aide," Juno replied, "Arruna Tak'sa. She helped me on Tatooine."

"I'm in," Arruna added.

"Not so fast," Danto replied, a little patronisingly. "It could be dangerous. Janus is bunkered down in the Senate Tower with SIS all round him."

"I can handle myself," Arruna retorted. "Besides, after what he did to Vao..." Arruna did not need to finish the sentence. Danto turned once again to Juno and looked at her expectantly.

"As long as this is about the truth," she replied, "and justice, and not revenge," she added, "then, yes... I'm in too."

Danto smiled. "You can arrest him yourself," he said.

They pored over maps and plans a while longer, and then finally set off for the planet's surface in different shuttles. Danto, Lt Ardo and Juno travelled in one; Danto's uncle, Holden and Arruna in the other. Only Flora remained on board the Defiant.

The Senate Plaza was deserted when they arrived, except for Lt Ardo's men, some two dozen of the Republic's finest soldiers, who were waiting for them. Before they entered the Senate Tower, Danto addressed the troops. He reminded them that they had come to arrest Janus, not to kill him; and then he said: "Agent Decker was Janus's right-hand man, and he was a Dark Jedi. However unlikely it seems, we should be prepared for the fact that Janus may be a Force-sensitive, perhaps even more powerful than Decker - or may have others in his service who are - and Decker defeated a Jedi master. Remember too that the SIS are in his pocket. Be prepared for anything inside that tower. Take no chances." The soldiers cheered, psyching themselves up for the upcoming encounter. They set off towards the Tower, but just as they were entering the building, Danto saw a small party of Jedi approaching from the far side of the square, a brightly coloured array of lightsabers at the ready.

"I thought you said they weren't going to interfere," Danto said to Juno, cursing under his breath. "Defend yourselves."

The soldiers quickly took defensive positions. "Master Vandar gave me his word..." Juno began to say, confused. As they drew nearer, however, it became clear that these Jedi were not members of the Council - they were all too young. "Don't shoot," one of them shouted, a male Twi'lek little older than Juno. "We're on your side."

Juno and Danto cautiously lowered their lightsabers, though Holden kept his blaster rifle trained firmly on the approaching Jedi, and Ardo's men followed his lead. "I know him," Juno whispered to Danto and Arruna, referring not to the Twi'lek but to one of the others in his party, a young Kel Dorian. "We were at the academy together. He's a good guy."

When they were within fifty feet of the soldiers, another Jedi spoke, a striking young woman with piercing blue eyes and dark brown hair. She wore a high-necked robe and carried a double-bladed lightsaber, which she hastily deactivated before speaking. "We're here to arrest Senator Janus," she informed them, her voice full of authority, "for the murder of General Corona and Senator Plono. Unless you mean to arrest him too, stand aside."

"On whose authority?" Juno asked, confused. "Did the Council send you?"

"You're kidding, right?" the young Kel Dorian, Sim Yar, asked, smiling at his old friend. "Vrook told us not to come."

"Officially, the Council has no position on this matter," replied the dark-haired woman, who appeared to be the group's leader. "They're not unaware of our mission, though.

"I am Bastila Shan," she added. "This is Yar, Rin'ta, Max and Allarus. We decided to act to see that Senator Janus faces these charges against him and end the blockade."

"Don't worry," Juno replied. "We're here to arrest him too - nothing more," she promised, introducing her party.

"So be it," Bastila replied. "On your mark then."

The two groups entered the Tower together. The reception rooms were empty, as far as they could tell, and they made their way cautiously towards the entrance hall. Confusingly, the hall was some distance inside the Tower, and not at the entrance as the name implied. Nor was it to be confused with the Senate chamber itself, which was both higher up and deeper inside the building - although the hall was also a large chamber with columns of Selonian marble and a public gallery running round the edges, like the chamber.

"Watch out," Lt Ardo barked as they approached the entrance, pointing first at his own eyes and then at the public gallery on the floor above. The hall was the perfect place for an ambush, and the battle-scarred veteran, who had served his entire career under General Corona, knew it. The Jedi advanced into the body of the room, Juno and Bastila Shan leading the way, and split into two groups. Danto made for a doorway on his right, taking care to stay beneath the gallery. The dark-haired Jedi clearly wanted to stay in sight of Danto, sticking to his side, followed by the male Twi'lek. Juno, her Kel Dorian friend, and the other two Jedi, meanwhile, made for the large, sweeping staircase at the end of the hall. All of a sudden, a small detachment of SIS officers stuck their heads over the balcony above and opened fire, sniping from the gallery at the Jedi in the hall below. The Jedi were expecting such a move, and deflected their blaster bolts with ease. Danto, Bastila Shan and the Twi'lek disappeared into a corridor, while Juno and the others occupied the agents' attention in the hall. Holden, Arruna, Ardo and his men opened fire on the officers, though it was almost impossible to hit them from below.

The distraction worked, however, because after a few minutes Danto and the other two Jedi burst onto the gallery, swiftly disarming the agents by the door. Bastila stunned one, the Twi'lek Rin'ta knocked another's blaster clean out of his hand, and Danto threw two more over the balustrade without laying a hand on them. Realising that the game was up, the other SIS officers promptly surrendered. "What should we do with them?" shouted Ardo from the ground floor.

"Don't hurt them," instructed the dark-haired Jedi, who had turned out to be rather bossy. "They can't all be in on it. We can determine their guilt once we have Janus."

Danto had disappeared, through the same door by which they had entered the gallery. Realising this, Bastila hurried after him, pursued by the Twi'lek. Ardo left two men to guard the agents and followed Holden, Arruna, Juno and the other Jedi, who had disappeared up the staircase. He and his men caught up with them at the turbolift, where they were waiting impatiently. "Looks like they've gone to the roof," muttered Holden to the lieutenant, gesturing at the antique display panel over the elevator.

When the elevator finally returned, Holden, Juno, the other two Jedi, the lieutenant and seven of his men squeezed into the carriage, leaving Arruna and the remaining soldiers on the first floor. They made their way up the Tower, a journey that seemed to take for ever, in total silence, apart from when one of Lt Ardo's troopers remarked: "I didn't even know you could get to the roof."

The doors opened to reveal a pitched battle. The three Jedi - Danto, Bastila and the Twi'lek - were defending themselves against a dozen or so SIS agents, who appeared to be in no mood to surrender. The soldiers fanned out from the lift and the Jedi sprinted towards their friends. Though now outnumbered, the agents seemed determined to fight to the death. "Call your men off, Janus," Bastila shouted, deflecting their blaster bolts, her yellow lightsaber flashing at both ends. Juno glanced to her left, and saw the senator standing on the very edge of the flat section of roof. He ignored the Jedi, however, and stood watching the battle, apparently unarmed and defenceless.

All of a sudden, the Twi'lek Jedi screamed in pain. A blaster bolt from one of the few remaining SIS agents had hit his arm, and he dropped his lightsaber. Before they could fire again, the Kel Dorian flew across the roof, covering the distance between himself and the Twi'lek in less than a second, and defended his friend with his blade. One by one the remaining agents fell, shot down by Holden and Ardo's men, cut down by the Jedi's lightsabers, or, in one case, thrown over the edge of the roof. Where the flat section of roof ended, the side of the Tower sloped sharply away, an ever-accelerating curve that swallowed the SIS officer as he plunged into darkness below.

As the soldiers caught their breath, Juno suddenly noticed, for the first time, the buildings around them. The plaza below them, and the height restriction on the nearest buildings, put in place to maintain the skyline and views of the Tower, meant that Juno had an uninterrupted view stretching for miles over the quarter's landmarks - one of very few such views on the planet.

Danto and Bastila, meanwhile, advanced on the senator, who was now standing right on the edge of the roof. "Senator Janus," Bastila shouted, suddenly worried that he might jump off the roof, "we're not going to hurt you.

"Lower your weapon," she hissed at Danto, deactivating her lightsaber as the spoke. "See," she added, addressing the senator again.

Danto continued to hold his lightsaber firmly in front of his body, however, remembering Agent Decker's handiwork on the Nautilus. "He's not to be trusted," he whispered to Bastila.

Hearing the lieutenant and his men approaching behind him, he shouted: "Stay alert."

"We're right behind you," growled Holden supportively.

Danto took a step towards Janus. "Wait," the dark-haired Jedi said, but as she spoke the senator raised his arms and hissed: "You fools." He glared at Danto, an expression on his face that Danto could not read, and then took a step backwards, disappearing off the edge of the roof.

Danto, Holden and Bastila ran to the edge, fully expecting to see a waiting taxi or something similar, but there was nothing there. Nor was there any sign of the senator in the gloom below, a darkness pierced only by the light of the buildings around them and the streetlights hundreds of feet below.

"That was easier than I expected," said the Mandalorian cautiously, speaking for everyone on the roof.

"Is that it?" asked Juno. "Is he dead?"

Lt Ardo nodded his head, but Danto whispered: "I'm not sure."

There came a sudden noise from the roof, behind the Kel Dorian and the Twi'lek, who were standing at the back of the group. Holden and the Jedi span round, alarmed, just in time to see the turbolift doors fly open. The Jedi activated their lightsabers and Holden and Ardo took up defensive positions again. Arruna Tak'sa and the rest of the lieutenant's men emerged from the lift to find seven Jedi and an angry Mandalorian glaring at them.

"What did we miss?" Arruna asked.

Arruna was not on the roof for long. She was sent back down to the ground floor, with the soldiers and two of the Jedi, to look for Janus's body in the plaza below, or perhaps the streets around the plaza. In truth, no one was really sure where his body would have landed, if indeed it had landed at all, for Danto was far from convinced that he had plunged to his death. Juno, Danto, Bastila and the others stayed on the roof, just in case, somehow, against all odds, Janus returned from the gloom.

What seemed like a thankless task for Arruna, like searching for a needle in a haystack, turned out to be quite simple. It was made easy by the large crowd of people in the distance, on the far side of the square, when she and the troopers left the Tower. Senator Janus had slid all the way down the roof, quickly accelerating, until there was no roof left, at which point he had plummeted into the plaza itself. The fall had killed him instantly. It was lucky, in a way, for the Jedi at least, that his body had landed in the plaza: a few feet more, and he would have missed the square and continued to fall, through the gaps between the various walkways, into the darkness below the upper city, where he might well never have been found.

Danto could feel the weight lifting off his shoulders as Arruna reported the news to Juno on her communicator. Holden clapped a hand on Danto's shoulder. "You did it," he growled triumphantly - "cut the head off the snake."

"There's still Quinn and the others to go," Danto retorted, scarcely allowing himself to believe that the man who had masterminded his uncle's downfall lay dead in the plaza below.

"Take care," Bastila warned him quietly, before leaving the roof. "Such emotions are a path to the Dark Side."

Juno came and stood by Danto's side. "I wonder why he didn't defend himself," she mused aloud.

"Who cares?" asked Holden.

"Perhaps it was just Decker," Danto replied - "you know, who was Force-sensitive. Perhaps Janus was just a man after all. A normal, evil man."

CHAPTER 18 Loose Ends

Danto could not believe that Janus was dead until he saw the senator's body with his own eyes, lying on a mortuary slab. Even then he still suspected trickery of some kind - a double, perhaps, or life beyond the grave - but there was no doubt about it: Senator Janus was dead as a doornail.

Juno did not see Danto again for several weeks after the night on the roof of the Senate Tower. She was summoned before the Jedi Council the following day, along with Bastila Shan and the other Jedi, and reprimanded with them - but in light of the evidence against Senator Janus, as well as his reaction when they tried to arrest him, which was seen to confirm his guilt, the punishment was not too severe.

Danto, however, was dealt with separately, and held in confinement until the Council was able to agree his fate. When Juno did finally see her friend, in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, with Holden and Flora Pothecar, he was no longer wearing the robes of the Jedi Order.

"It's true, then," Juno said with dismay. "I heard you'd been expelled."

"I resigned, actually," Danto retorted. "I'm standing for my uncle's seat in the Senate. Uncle Anto thinks I have a good chance..."

"Of course you are," Holden interrupted. "After what you did - exposing Janus, the corruption in the Senate," he added, "bringing your uncle's killers to justice - General Corona is a legend on your planet."

"You're a shoe in, Danto," Flora concurred.

"Meet my campaign manager," Danto said to Juno, smiling. "Anyway, they said I couldn't be in the Order and stand for the Senate.

"I wasn't really cut out for all that Jedi stuff, anyway, Juno," he added.

"Oh," was all that Juno could say.

"Hey, cheer up," Danto said. "You heard Quinn handed himself over to the authorities on Manaan, right? He's due to stand trial with Cascara and the others next month. Word is, they're pleading guilty."

"That's good," Juno replied, smiling weakly, but feeling a sudden pang of pity for the former senator.

"And it's only a matter of time till they catch Organa," Danto added brightly. "That'll be everyone - everyone who had a hand in my uncle's death."

"I'm pleased for you, Danto," Juno replied.

Danto frowned. It was not that Juno's answer sounded insincere, but there was no conviction behind it.

"I still can't get over how many people Janus had fooled," Holden said. "Five minutes I was in a room with the man... I got his number right off, didn't I?"

"Yes," Flora retorted, "but we could put you in a room with _any_ politician for five minutes and you'd come out thinking they were the Dark Lord."

Holden smiled.

"He's right, though," Danto said, laughing. "Janus sure had your lot fooled, Juno. You know he was still talking to members of the Council all the way through the Battle of Onderon, right up to my blockade? We've seen his records."

"Tell her about Kavar!" Flora squealed.

"Oh, yeah," said Danto. "Get this! We worked it out - Janus had Kavar on the communicator when Lok and Holden and me were in his office. Kavar must have listened in on our whole conversation. Janus must have really got inside his head. Imagine being able to manipulate people like that."

Juno fell silent. "What's up?" Danto asked his friend. "Are you thinking about Lok again? I know it's been tough, but we avenged his death, Juno," he added. "You and me. That's what counts."

"You know we can't be friends," Juno interrupted suddenly, "after you're a senator."

"Oh, that's what's been bugging you, is it?" Danto asked. "Of course we can. All those rules - they don't apply any more, Juno. I'm not a Jedi."

"I am, though," Juno retorted. "I think now I see what Master Lok was trying to say to me - or about me - or whatever it was."

"We can still be friends, Juno," Danto insisted.

"You're too busy to have friends now, Senator," Juno said, smiling, as if to signal that she did not wish to pursue the conversation any further.

Danto and Flora laughed too, and Flora chimed in: "Lots more corruption to stamp out, Senator - all those other senators who took Czerka money, for a start."

"Aren't they going to do anything about that?" asked Juno, shocked but not surprised.

"They can't," Danto replied. "Technically it's not illegal," he added. "Not yet, anyway," he said, turning to Flora.

"What do you expect?" Flora replied. "When they've even got the chancellor in their pocket..."

"One payment," interrupted Juno, and, before Flora had a chance to speak, she added: "Listen, I'm not defending him, Flora, but it's not like it's the crime of the century."

"No? Well, I'm glad you're okay with it," Flora said, "cos it looks like you'll have to put up with it for another four years."

"You see? This is why I don't have ideals," the Mandalorian said, laughing.

Flora pulled a face, but Juno frowned. "What do you mean, 'another four years'?" she asked the redhead. "Dol Grenna's not standing again now, is he?"

"Only unopposed!" Flora replied.

"It makes sense," Danto said, winking at Holden. This was clearly not the first time he and Flora had had this conversation. "There's no one else, and Grenna's a good choice, in a caretakery, unity-candidate kind of way. One small consultancy fee aside," he added, smiling sweetly at Flora.

"There speaks the politician," Holden said, snorting and rolling his eyes for effect. He appeared to be joking, though as always it was impossible to tell for sure.

Juno was silent, however, a confused look on her face. "What now?" Danto asked.

"Okay. You can't tell anyone," Juno said, "but it was Dol Grenna who asked me and Lok to look into Plono's death. That's what we were doing on Dantooine - we were meeting Grenna."

Holden and Danto exchanged knowing looks. "Yes." the younger man replied. "We'd guessed as much. Arruna too."

"Oh," said Juno again, disappointed. She thought that she had covered her tracks well.

"I was just thinking," she continued: "funny, isn't it, how everything Janus did worked out so well for Grenna?"

"What are you suggesting?" asked Danto. "That _Dol Grenna_ was behind it, after all?" he added, laughing.

"No, no," Juno replied. "Of course not. No. It's just," she continued, "when he spoke about his friend, Plono, it was so different than the others. He was so matter-of-fact about Corona and Edel. It was like he didn't care what Janus was doing, till he did it to one of their friends."

"The chancellor knew what Janus was doing?" asked Flora.

"He denied it," Juno replied. "Or rather he said he didn't know for sure. But now I'm wondering if there's more to it than that."

"Why?" asked Danto. "Just because he's running for chancellor again? Listen," he added, "Jaso was my uncle and all, and I don't want there to be any loose ends, but it sounds fairly far-fetched to me."

"You're right," Juno replied. "Of course you're right. I just think I should speak to him one last time."

"You want to meet the chancellor?" Danto asked, a sudden glint in his eye. "Perhaps I should come with you then," he added.

Holden rolled his eyes again. "Ask him about Czerka money," Flora suggested, her face the perfect picture of indignation.

"I should talk to Arruna first," Juno said. "She's been looking into Vao's case again, trying to clear her name. I think I'll go to Ryloth and see how she's getting on."

True to her word, Juno arrived on the Twi'lek home world a few days later. Ryloth, or Twi'lek Prime, was a small, rocky world in the Outer Rim. Juno made for Kala'uun, one of the planet's two capitals, deep in the Lonely Five mountain range. Vao had an underground complex there - Kala'uun was an underground city - and she caught up with Arruna in her employer's office. The senator, for a few more weeks at least, was there too.

"Good morning, Senator," Juno said, entering the office without knocking.

Vao received the Jedi graciously, thanking her again for her help on Manaan and for saving Arruna on Tatooine. "How's the re-election campaign going?" Juno asked eventually, at which point Vao's mood changed.

"The senator's given up no hope of winning her seat back," Arruna informed Juno bluntly.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Juno said, turning to face the senator.

"Even Crix distanced himself after the verdict," Vao said, a degree of bitterness in her voice, though not overly so, considering everything that had happened to her.

"The Mirialan?" asked Juno. "The one I met on Manaan?"

Vao and Arruna both nodded. "I'm sorry," Juno repeated.

Vao shook her head. "It's a small price to pay for my reputation, I suppose," she replied. "Anything else would have been a bonus."

"Still, it's not fair," Juno said.

"Fair?" asked the senator. "Is the backlash against your order fair? Is what they did to Master Jarra fair? It's funny - normally it's the winners who write the history. But in our case... Well, I'm not the only one to have suffered, am I?"

"Won't the chancellor help you?" Juno asked. "I only know him a little, but..."

Juno's words were cut short by a loud snort, which was followed by an awkward silence.

"What brings you to Ryloth, Juno?" asked Arruna.

"I can't check up on an old friend?" asked Juno, smiling. Arruna smiled too, but waited patiently for an answer. "Oh, I'm just tying up some loose ends," Juno explained. "I'm looking into the death of some other senators now: Senator Edel, Senator Tey... You must have known them, Senator."

Vao nodded. "Edel was an unpleasant man," she said, with feeling, making clear her feelings for him. "Still, he could have been chancellor, had things worked out differently."

"You didn't like him?"

Vao's face softened. "He died well in the end," she said simply.

"How did he die?" asked Arruna. Senator Edel was nothing but a name to her.

"He was a war hero," Juno informed her friend.

"He died a war hero," the senator said, correcting the Jedi. "So you're investigating the Edel affair, are you?" she added, suddenly interested.

"The Edel affair?" Juno asked, struck by the senator's choice of words.

"Yes. You know, something always did strike me as odd about that," Vao continued, ignoring the Jedi: "how the Mandalorians knew he'd be on that ship."

"I thought it was a chance attack," Juno replied.

The senator snorted loudly again. "Did Dol Grenna put you up to this?" she asked - "the investigation, I mean - or was it the Council?"

Juno did not answer, and so Vao continued: "That's strange. You know he and Edel were rivals back in the day?"

"Rivals?" Juno asked, repeating the senator's words again.

"Before Edel died," Vao replied. "Kind of like how Janus and Corona were, before Corona died."

"Are you saying Chancellor Grenna was involved somehow in Edel's death?" Arruna asked her employer.

"Well, he was cleared by the investigation, wasn't he?"

"There was an investigation into Edel's death?" Juno asked, surprised - "even though he died in battle?"

"It was the Jedi Order that investigated it," Vao said, amused. "Don't you lot ever talk to each other? Anyone who was anyone suspected foul play, and the finger pointed at Grenna, of course, but no one found any evidence - not for want of trying, mind you. I know Master Lok spent years looking."

"Lok?" Juno said, repeating Vao for a third time. She stood with her hands on her hips, confused. Suddenly she recalled something that the chancellor had said. "Grenna said no one suspected foul play. Why would he say that if he was investigated by the Order?"

"That's politicians for you," Arruna interjected, smiling as she spoke. As intended, Senator Vao took no offence.

"I think I need to have another word with our Supreme Chancellor," Juno said, now really confused.

"You suspect Chancellor Grenna of something?" Arruna asked.

"I'm not sure," Juno replied. "He's the one who mentioned Edel in the first place. Why would he do that if he had something to hide? But I feel there's more going on here than meets the eye."

"Can I come with you?" Arruna asked, but then she remembered herself and turned to address Senator Vao.

The older Twi'lek beat her to the punch, and said: "You might as well. It's not like I'll have need of your services any more, is it, Arruna?"

Arruna smiled and thanked the senator. "Back to Coruscant, then?" she asked the Jedi, who nodded.

"You don't want to do that," said Vao, to their surprise. "Nobody's meant to know this, but Grenna's on Nar Shaddaa. He was only on Coruscant for five days before he left again in secret. He went back to Dantooine, and then on to Nar Shaddaa."

"What's he doing there?" asked Arruna.

"How do you know the chancellor was on Dantooine, Senator?" Juno asked, her suspicions suddenly aroused. "Come to that, how do you know where he is now?"

"Janus wasn't the only one with friends in low places," the soon-to-be-ex-senator replied enigmatically.

CHAPTER 19 A Well-Earned Rest

When Danto and Holden found out that Juno and Arruna were going to Nar Shaddaa to meet the Supreme Chancellor, Danto insisted on accompanying them. At first Juno resisted the idea, protesting that it would be inappropriate for a Jedi to be associated with an electoral candidate. Danto had obviously foreseen that she would raise this objection, and retorted that, if Arruna, a senator's aide, could go with her, then so could he. After several minutes of fairly heated discussion, Juno finally relented, never expecting that the chancellor would agree to see the four of them.

All four of them, however, agreed that it would be ill-advised to take Flora with them.

As it turned out, Juno was wrong. Shortly after their ship touched down, on a landing pad near the red-light district, Dol Grenna, or rather one of the Supreme Chancellor's aides, a gangly, balding man, sent word that the chancellor was prepared to meet them. The aide named the time and place, and sent directions to a distant district that even the Mandalorian was unfamiliar with.

It was Juno's first time on Nar Shaddaa - indeed it was everyone's first time on the moon apart from Holden's - and as they had time to spare before the meeting they decided to take in some of the sights - a decision that they soon regretted.

Nar Shaddaa was a moon - the largest moon in fact - of the planet Hutta, the Hutt home world. While Hutta was relatively undeveloped, because of the dangerous, inhospitable swamps and marshland, Nar Shaddaa veered to the other extreme and was, if anything, overdeveloped. Like Taris and Coruscant, every inch of its surface was covered by buildings, to the extent that the moon was known as Little Coruscant - though the nickname did the capital no favours.

"Keep your bag close," Holden growled at Arruna as they wandered the alleys by the landing pad, "or someone'll snatch it."

To pass the time, they agreed to go to a cantina that Holden knew. "Can we go to the Jekk'Jekk Tarr?" asked Danto excitedly. "I always wanted to go to that place."

"Why?" asked Arruna.

"It's got a cool name," Danto replied, smiling.

"No," snarled Holden. "It's not a good place."

They went instead to a cantina on a so-called entertainment promenade, one of the less run-down areas by the landing pad, and ordered four juma juices. They sat down on the opposite side of the room from the bar and chatted. "It's been a strange few months," Juno mused aloud, and the others laughed, Danto in particular.

"When I think back to Taris and the Bloated Tach, it seems a lifetime ago," Danto said, nodding his head.

"I remember you two coming into the room Lok and I were in," said Juno, laughing. "You were about the toughest man I'd even seen," she added, glancing at Holden and laughing again.

"I remember the Iridonian loosening his robes and casually resting his hand on his lightsaber," Holden chimed in. "I thought to myself, 'Here we go.' And you, he added, turning to his friend, trying to act all tough. 'I hear you've been looking for me,'" Holden said mimicking Danto's voice eerily well.

"That's right," Juno said, bursting out laughing. "And then Lok asked if you were Danto Riggs, and you said 'Maybe'."

All four of them laughed, even Danto. "That does seem a long time ago," Holden agreed.

Juno was not finished, however, and continued: "And do you remember how excited he got about the T3 unit?"

Holden laughed again, though Danto only smiled this time. "I wonder what happened to him," he mused.

"He's been scrap for months," Holden said, sounding very sure of himself. "You won't hear from that little fella again, I'm afraid."

"I've joined the Jedi Order since then," said Danto.

"And done the training," added Holden.

"And been kicked out," said Juno.

"I'll drink to that," Danto retorted.

"To Master Lok," Holden said, raising his glass, and the others repeated the Jedi master's name.

When the time came to meet the Supreme Chancellor, they set off on foot. The aide's directions made the meeting point seem closer than it really was, and took the group through the refugee sector, a run-down area where every alley was full of cargo containers. "What's with the crates?" Juno asked, before she realised that there were people living in them.

They made their way quickly through the maze of containers, fending off unwanted hands and pleas for money or help. One woman claimed to have lost all her money to a man pretending to be a pilot. She said that he had offered to take her off the moon, for a price. Another claimed to have lost her children. Juno knew that she could not help them all, and yet she still felt pity for them, living as they were in such dire conditions.

"Who are these people?" Danto whispered to Holden.

"Refugees," he replied.

"Well, yeah," said Danto, rather annoyed at his friend, "but where from?"

Holden glanced at some of the people around them, mean-looking men for the most part, and held his rifle close. "Serroco, by the looks of it," he replied.

"What are they doing here?"

"We hit Serroco hard in the war," Holden informed his friend. "The Mandalorians, I mean. A lot of them left."

"Weren't those vets on Dantooine from Serroco?" Danto asked, remembering his uncle's veterans who fought alongside him on the ranch. "What were their names again?"

"They were stationed there," Holden replied. He seemed distracted - and indeed he was - because some of the refugees were starting to follow him, as if to say that they knew that he was Mandalorian. "Let's get out of here," he said.

The others did not take much persuading. They escaped the refugee sector without incident, only to find themselves in another district that was just as unpleasant, if not more so. "It's like Taris Lower City," Juno commented, to herself as much as anyone else, "only much, much worse."

The sector appeared to be a former industrial area. The buildings were not just run down - they were completely abandoned and falling to ruin. The friends made their way to a square, also empty, surrounded by brown tower blocks and buildings, the windows of which were smashed. "Nice place," Holden muttered under his breath.

"This can't be right," Juno said. "The chancellor would never meet us here."

"You said he was in hiding on Dantooine," said Arruna. "Maybe this is the same thing."

They waited a few minutes, until the agreed time, and then a half hour more. "He's not coming," Holden said. Almost as soon as he spoke, however, a figure emerged from an abandoned factory in the distance, on the far side of the square. It appeared to be the chancellor. Juno caught herself breathing a sigh of relief when she spotted him shuffling towards her, all rosy cheeks and snow-white hair. His aide, the gangly young man, walked beside him, supporting his arm as they made their way down the steps.

"Where are his guards?" asked Holden, suddenly concerned.

"I've never seen him with any," Juno whispered, trying to set the Mandalorian's mind at ease.

As ever, Dol Grenna was simply dressed, this time in a long, dark robe, to protect against the moon's chill no doubt. He stopped some distance away from their group, almost as if he were afraid of them, but then smiled at Juno.

"Chancellor Grenna," Juno called as the old man approached. "Thank you for agreeing to meet us," she added, before introducing her friends.

"Danto Riggs," the chancellor exclaimed, his voice on the verge of cracking, or so it sounded, "of course. You need no introduction.

"You're wondering what we're doing here," the old man continued, seeing the look on the young man's face, "in this place," he added, gesturing at the stained towers. He placed unusual emphasis on the final word of his sentence. "Forgive me. I'm on Nar Shaddaa to meet the Hutts - on behalf of the Republic - and this is the quietest place on the planet."

"I get it," Danto replied, equally informal. "It's safe because there's nobody here."

"On the Smuggler's Moon," the chancellor replied with a twinkle in his eye and a frog in his throat, "nowhere is safe. You'll learn that soon enough, Danto."

"Supreme Chancellor," said Juno, hoping to steer the conversation back to the matter at hand, "I was wondering..."

The chancellor, however, interrupted the young woman. "Juno, my dear, I never thanked you properly for solving the mystery of my friend's death," he said. "Senator Plono," he added, explaining for the benefit of the others. "He was my very dear friend, and Juno and her colleague investigated his murder for me."

"Chancellor," Juno interjected, a little irritably.

"But now you want to ask me more about the others - whether I knew what Zed was up to - and Corona and Edel and the rest?" he asked astutely.

"Arruna was Senator Vao's aide," Juno replied, waiting for Arruna to speak, but the Twi'lek's tongue appeared to be tied, and so she continued: "She's been looking some more into what happened to Vao - as well as some of the others. I didn't know that you and Edel were rivals," she added bluntly.

"But, Juno," the chancellor protested, mildly but firmly, "I can only repeat what I told you last time on Dantooine. I didn't know what Zed was doing. Even if I had my suspicions...

"To be honest, Juno," he added, changing gear, "I'm a little surprised the Jedi Council sent you to pester an old man like this. I'm sorry for what Zed did. I'm sorry I didn't stop him, but..."

It was Juno's turn to interrupt. "The Council doesn't know I'm here, Chancellor," she said. "This isn't a formal investigation. We're just looking for answers. Danto lost his uncle. Vao lost her job, her career, her reputation. Master Lok..."

Juno's words trailed off. "I understand," Grenna replied sympathetically. "I guess I just find it hard to believe that anyone would come all this way to question the Supreme Chancellor without clearing it with someone first."

"Whatever you say here stays between us, Chancellor," Juno replied, as respectfully as she could.

"So, no one knows you're here?" the old man asked.

At that precise moment, alarm bells started to ring inside Danto and Holden's heads. Danto, who had been staring at the ground, glanced first at his friend and then at the old man, but as he was doing so, a smile broke out across Dol Grenna's face - a toothy, malevolent smile - and he rasped: "Good."

"Oh druk," muttered Holden, under his breath.

"It's him," yelled Danto, at exactly the same time, though no sooner had he shouted the warning than it became redundant. Without warning, the old man reached towards them, an arc of lightning shooting from his fingertips into Juno's body, causing her to convulse. "He's the other Dark Jedi," Danto said, though by this point he was merely stating the obvious.

"What the druk was that?" shouted Holden, who had never seen anything like it in his life.

Danto had never seen anything like it either, of course, but had been warned about it at the academy. "Force lightning," he shouted. "Stop him!"

Juno began to scream in pain. Instinctively, Danto reached for his lightsaber - but of course he no longer carried one. It had been destroyed, along with all his other possessions, on leaving the Order. Realising that he was unarmed, he lashed out in the chancellor's direction, again acting on impulse alone, trying to drive him back. The chancellor deflected Danto's attack, however, with a deft flick of his hand in the young man's direction, and it was Danto who flew backwards through the air, colliding with the wall behind him. It was as if his power had been amplified tenfold by passing through the chancellor, and he slammed into the wall with such force that he fell to the ground, out cold.

Danto's attack did at least force the chancellor to break off his attack, and allowed Juno to draw her lightsaber. She held its blade in front of her face, still in a state of shock, as Holden and Arruna took cover behind the various crates and containers scattered round the yard.

"It was you? You all along?" Juno asked in disbelief. "You killed all those people - all those senators?"

Chancellor Grenna made no reply. His aide, who had been standing stock-still, clearly also in shock, suddenly turned to flee, but the old man held out his hand again and, without touching the young man, began to choke him. It was the same power that Agent Decker had used on Danto on board the Nautilus, except that, in this case, the aide was dead within seconds.

"What's it like, Chancellor?" Juno continued, advancing slowly on Grenna without lowering her guard, all self-righteous. "What's it like to have the blood of innocent men on your hands?"

"Why don't you tell me, Juno?" the old man replied gleefully. "It was not I who drove Senator Janus to his death," he gloated. "Was it?"

Juno's mind turned to the rooftop of the Senate Tower, the strange, pained look on Janus's face at the end, and his final words. "You were clearing the way for yourself - so you'd be re-elected - and we helped you do it," she said, suddenly realising what they had done.

"Why don't you kill him already?" screamed Arruna from behind a large crate not dissimilar to those that had been scattered throughout the refugee sector. And yet, for some reason, neither she nor Holden had fired a single shot.

"You killed Plono?" Juno asked the old man, still coming to terms with the betrayal. "You killed your own friend?"

He made no reply, however, and she added: "You're not going to get away with this, Grenna. You're not going to win. I'm not going to let you."

"On the contrary," the chancellor finally replied, taunting the Jedi again. "I have already won. Already the backlash against your pathetic order has begun. Imagine what will happen when it comes to light that Janus is innocent. Your order will tear itself to pieces. Even if it doesn't, there will be thousands of others waiting to do so."

"The Jedi Order have been the guardians of peace and justice in the Republic for almost a thousand generations, Chancellor. We shall survive this too. We shall survive you. Your schemes, however, end now, on this moon."

"Perhaps you are right," replied the old man nonchalantly, "but regardless of what happens to me the truth will come to light - that you and your friends hounded an innocent man, a loyal servant of the Republic, to death. His one care was the people he served, Juno," he added, in a falsely sincere tone. "His arrogance, his corruption, his all-consuming greed - all that will be forgotten. Your problems now will be as nothing compared to the chaos to come.

"I warned you," he added. "'Make sure you get the right man.' I warned you - and you failed, Juno Celerier. You failed."

"There will be no chaos, Grenna," Juno replied. "There will be harmony again, once the Republic is free from your taint."

"Spare me your pious code," said the old man. "Two of us was all it took to shake your pitiful Republic to the core. To turn you against yourselves. To take you to the brink of civil war. And soon there shall be more than two of us, whatever fate befalls me today."

"What do you mean?" Juno asked.

"There is an army of us, Juno. Already we are returning to the Red Planet..."

"Returning?" Juno interrupted. "Returning from where?"

The chancellor was suddenly silent. "Even though you will not live to tell," he warned, "I believe you have heard enough."

Juno had stopped advancing on the chancellor. Although she and Arruna were still too shocked to act, Holden finally fired his blaster rifle, a single bolt, which the chancellor easily deflected with his hand. It appeared that he was not carrying a lightsaber. "Watch out," Juno shouted, a warning to the Mandalorian. "He's more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

"Yeah, but he's such a dick," Holden retorted. "All that 'regardless of what happens' BS," he added. "I'll tell you what's going to happen, old man. You're a dead man."

"So what?" Grenna asked, apparently willing to humour them again. "My job is done. Your precious Republic is disintegrating. Your galaxy is ripe for the taking."

"Who by?" Juno asked. "What army are you talking about? Who's returning to Korriban?"

The chancellor laughed. "They are coming," he replied.

"Who?" Juno asked.

"The ones on Tatooine?" Arruna chimed in from behind the container. "The Dark Jedi?"

"Dark Jedi," Juno retorted... "Or Sith?"

"They are but slaves," said the chancellor, seemingly confirming the Twi'lek's suspicions. "As am I."

Arruna was about to speak when the chancellor unleashed a second volley of lightning, on her this time. It ripped straight through the container, arcing through the Twi'lek into the ground. She collapsed, face first, a feathery, fern-leaf pattern running down her back and burning through her clothes, electric red, as though every capillary in her body had exploded. As she fell, she let out a heart-rending scream that caused Juno and Holden great pain, but also spurred them into action. Holden unleashed a volley from his blaster rifle, advancing from cover as he fired. Grenna deflected it effortlessly onto Juno with his bare hands, but she in turn deflected the bolts with her lightsaber, eventually managing to angle her blade so that at least some of them returned to the chancellor. As she too began to advance on the old man, he seemed to recognise that his tactics were no longer working. Reaching out, he lifted a large container in the distance, a metal box weighing easily upwards of half a tonne, and threw it at Juno as if it were no heavier than a football. Juno leaped out of its path, but not far enough. She lay on the ground, unable to more, as the container hurtled towards her. At the very last minute, however, just as the container was about to crush her, it shuddered violently, flew back up into the air, and landed on the far side of the yard. Puzzled, she glanced at Holden. Following his line of sight, she saw Danto, slightly recovered, leaning against the wall.

The chancellor wasted no time, however. He drew a lightsaber for the first time, a single blade of red, of course, and resumed his ferocious attack. He flew through the air, landing almost on top of Juno, who barely had time to raise her guard. His blade struck hers, the sparks flying for feet around. Holden opened fire again, and Danto tried to knock him off his feet, both to no avail.

"And now I shall finish the job my apprentice started," Grenna rasped, bearing down on Juno with his full force as he taunted her. "I shall slay you as easily as my apprentice slew your precious master," he added, staring at Danto.

Danto exploded with rage, flinging his arms at the old man, who stood, unbowed, over the stricken Jedi. "Good, good!" he said. "Unleash your anger!"

While he was momentarily distracted, Juno kicked him sharply between the legs. The old man yelped. He swung his lightsaber, but Juno was able to roll out of the way before it struck the ground. She was standing a few feet away when he unleashed a third volley of lightning from his fingertips, but Juno was ready and managed to deflect it with her weapon. Holden continued to advance, still firing, though his bolts bounced off the old man, as if he were standing in an invisible shield.

"I don't understand. Why tell us about Edel? - the Viceroy?" asked Juno, hoping to distract him again.

"You are so pathetic," Grenna replied, lightning continuing to arc from his hands. "I had to make the crumbs bigger and bigger and bigger," he added, continuing to taunt her.

"You want us to uncover the truth?"

"I want you to die!" Grenna retorted, knocking the lightsaber out of her hands. It flew across the square, landing near Arruna's body in the remnants of the smashed container.

Juno lay sprawled on the ground in front of the chancellor. He went to unleash his lightning again, but Holden bellowed and charged straight towards him, lowering his shoulder. Grenna was momentarily caught by surprise, but as the Mandalorian was almost upon him he picked him up, like a rag doll, and flung him into the dirt. Holden was not done, however, and rose to his feet, at which point the old man raised his lightsaber again. Seeing that he was about to sever Holden's head from his body, Danto, who was staggering across the square towards them, went to shout a warning to his friend, but there came out instead an unnatural roar, from the very depths of his body, which knocked the chancellor clean off his feet.

For the first time, a flicker of fear crossed the old man's face, but he sprang straight back up and leaped through the air towards Danto, landing in front of him and lunging with his lightsaber, a single, free-flowing movement. Juno tried to stand, but could not move, and so it fell to Holden to try to save his friend. He swore at the old man and flung his blaster rifle at him. Grenna caught it and held it above his head, again without actually touching it, and burst out laughing suddenly. "You are pathetic!" he shouted, mocking them again. He was about to bring the blaster rifle down on Danto's head, when Holden charged again. This time, Grenna threw the rifle back at the Mandalorian with such force that it broke his ribs, and Holden collapsed to the ground, all the wind knocked out of him.

Turning back round, Grenna stood over Danto Riggs. "And now to kill you," the old man repeated, "just as my apprentice killed your master."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Danto asked, blood trickling out of his mouth. All of a sudden, he started to laugh.

The chancellor laughed too. "Oh? And what's that?"

"We killed your apprentice," Danto replied, still laughing. "And now we're going to kill you!"

Wiping the smile from his face, Danto reached out with his hand, and Juno's lightsaber flew through the air towards him. He caught and activated it, and thrust it at the old man with his full force.

Grenna deflected it with the merest flick of his wrist, however, sending it into the wall, where it shattered into a thousand tiny parts.

"You didn't kill me," he said, planting his foot on Danto's chest.

Danto laughed again.

" _I_ didn't kill your apprentice," he retorted.

Dol Grenna stared at Danto for a few seconds, confused. All of a sudden, he felt cold, hard metal pressing against the back his neck, and heard a voice growl: "Deflect this!" He started to spin round, but the bolt of the blaster rifle went straight into the back of his skull.

Holden fell to his knees, still winded, clutching his blaster rifle. Danto managed to get to his feet, and stood over the chancellor's convulsing body. "Is he dead?" Holden asked hoarsely.

"No," Danto replied.

"Don't kill him," came a voice from the other side of the square. Juno was lying on her belly, crawling towards them, still unable to stand. "We need answers," she shouted.

"Give me the gun," Danto said, and his friend threw him the rifle.

Danto raised the butt above the chancellor's head, poised to strike. "Don't do it, Danto," Juno pleaded. "Don't give in to your anger. That is the way to the Dark Side."

Danto hesitated for a few seconds, during which time the old man opened his eyes and started to come round. "Don't do it!" Juno shouted.

Seeing the doubt in his friend's eyes, Holden seized the chancellor's body, wrapped his arms round Grenna's head, and twisted with all his might, until he heard the old man's neck snap.

Holden lay on the ground, wheezing badly. After checking that his friend was okay, Danto stumbled towards Arruna, whose lifeless body lay in the wreckage of the container. He kneeled beside her and closed her eyes. Finally he crawled towards Juno, and collapsed beside her.

EPILOGUE

Arruna Tak'sa was buried on Twi'lek Prime, in the underground city. She was given a state funeral, once her part in the events on Nar Shaddaa became known. Senator Vao officiated and wept over her grave.

Dol Grenna, or Darth Execrus as he later became known, had not been dead two days when his predecessor as chancellor, Chancellor Cressa, started to make a miraculous recovery from the mystery illness that had defied doctors, and diagnosis, for more than a year. As if magic, it released its grip on him, to the extent that, with no other plausible contenders left, he was re-elected unopposed as Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Senate for another four years.

The elections did not treat everybody so kindly. As Dol Grenna had predicted, the backlash against the young Jedi continued to grow, especially once evidence of Senator Janus's innocence started to emerge. Facing the prospect of a heavy defeat, even on his uncle's home world and in spite of his services to the Republic, Danto Riggs was forced to withdraw, after his campaign manager, Flora Pothecar, made it clear that she could no longer give him her full support. Needless to say, Holden Gray stood by Danto, bringing a burgeoning relationship with the young redhead to a sudden end.

Senator Vao lost her seat, just as she had predicted, but so too did all but one of the senators whose lies and corruption Danto and Holden had exposed.

As for Juno Celerier, she continued to investigate strange goings-on all over the galaxy on behalf of the Jedi Council, though they turned increasingly dark as the other Jedi of whom Dol Grenna had spoken started to put their plan into effect. Juno was, however, eventually reunited with her old friend, Sim Yar, the young Kel Dorian Jedi who joined forces with her on the rooftop of the Senate Tower during the ill-fated attempt to arrest Senator Janus. As it happened, they were brought together by another of the Jedi involved in that misadventure, Bastila Shan. She was assembling a strike team to take prisoner one of the Dark Jedi who had attacked Juno and Arruna on Tatooine. Bastila's team succeeded in its mission, helping to revive the Jedi Council's fortunes, and Juno accompanied Bastila on board the Dark Jedi's flagship in the Outer Rim when he was taken prisoner.

Nor was this even the end of Juno and Danto's tale.

But that is a story for another day...


End file.
